tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post6787272997863639146..comments2024-03-29T08:11:31.723-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Columbus stopping point of 1493 / THU 2-27-14 / Some Coleridge colleagues / Epicurean explorerRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56746976346460292822014-04-03T20:21:30.502-04:002014-04-03T20:21:30.502-04:00Wunnerful, wunnerful, puzzle. Took me all day beca...Wunnerful, wunnerful, puzzle. Took me all day because of interruptions but enjoyed it anyway. Hey, quotes are OK by me. I always feel the quote is a bonus when all is solved, and this one was new to me.<br /><br />Ron Diego 5:20 PM PSTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23600181341465627132014-04-03T16:10:02.050-04:002014-04-03T16:10:02.050-04:00Agree about ASIA, and originally wanted my epicure...Agree about ASIA, and originally wanted my epicurean to be a "gour.....something". Gourmand, gourmet...? At any rate it all worked out. Not always the case for me on Thursday, so I'm smiling, and wondering if I'm being set up for a Friday stumper?<br /><br />Captcha looks oddly do-able today.DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12832012263242557672014-04-03T15:32:47.605-04:002014-04-03T15:32:47.605-04:00@Diri, I spose you're right and I'm wrong ...@Diri, I spose you're right and I'm wrong about CHOSEUP. <br /><br />Re: "Locale of three Summer Olympics," that's where I started the puzzle and I thought the answer was Athens and that we had a rebus. Maybe A THE N S. I was disappointed it was just ASIA.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-6526209104733290122014-04-03T15:02:31.173-04:002014-04-03T15:02:31.173-04:00I don't mind quote, riddle or sign puzzles but...I don't mind quote, riddle or sign puzzles but I was really hoping for a rebus or some other Thursday-worthy gimmick to liven things up. Still, I enjoyed it and my only major discombobulation was spending too long deciding if Suede came from cow hide or pig skin; the dilemma was resolved when TANNERY appeared.<br /><br />@SiS - I had the same reaction to ASIA; OTH it seems your recollections of your youth include examples of the times you CHOSE UP teams to play, no?<br /><br />I'll join @spacy outside while the rest of you see who wins the pot, cause it AIN'T gonna be me.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5957852310713726452014-04-03T14:31:34.766-04:002014-04-03T14:31:34.766-04:00During my youth I was part of a "choose up&qu...During my youth I was part of a "choose up" team countless times. I have never heard of one referred to in the past tense. Ever.<br /><br />Really don't like quote crossword puzzles. Especially on a Thursday in the New York Times. Did Will take the day off, or was it too difficult to turn down his bud, Stanley.<br /><br />37D: "Locale of three Summer Olympics"= ASIA Really? <br />How about "Locale of 31 Summer Olympics" That would be earth. <br /><br />Other than these three bitches, not a bad "fruitcake." (Credit to LMS)<br /><br />Full boat - sixes over eights.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36901474419864268592014-04-03T11:56:07.155-04:002014-04-03T11:56:07.155-04:00I had no idea there was such an overwhelming major...I had no idea there was such an overwhelming majority (sorry, @Ann Heil) of solvers who dislike whole sentences running through their grids. Quotes, riddles, jokes--and yes, even signs, as today. Not my big thrill, either.<br /><br />But...if there's such a thing as a well-done one--and one of the very few I've seen in a 15X15 grid--this is it. Aside from YELLOWY, which though a real word sounds to me like an adjective modifying an adjective, all this fill is solid. [STEELY is fine because steel is a noun--and because of Dan!]<br /><br />Great twin 6-letter crossing with Z. (Hit 'em where they) AINT always reminds me of good ol' Richie Ashburn, who I saw in person did just that after fouling off twenty pitches: a bloop double to left center at the Polo Grounds, circa 1955. That iconic moment cemented this impressionable youth's love of sports in general, and the Phillies in particular--still strong today despite Papelbon's blown save of last night.<br /><br />Unlike many insiders who grace this page, I didn't recognize the constructor's name, but thanks, Mr. Newman, for that memory jog. TOOTOO AMAZIN.<br /><br />Sometimes I record a poker hand; when I don't bother, like today, it's because it's crappy and I've folded. Perish forbid I should actually be able to READ the captcha word! Horrors!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80560790329444465792014-02-28T18:00:26.252-05:002014-02-28T18:00:26.252-05:00Did not like the double "re"s---REDO and...Did not like the double "re"s---REDO and REDRAFT. Should be limit of one "re" prefix per crosswordColbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01689267070985508341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36193773044777156082014-02-27T22:03:25.424-05:002014-02-27T22:03:25.424-05:00This 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 6:19, 6:18, 1.00, 52%, Medium<br />Tue 6:27, 8:16, 0.78, 1%, Easy (3rd lowest ratio of 220 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 8:10, 10:14, 0.80, 7%, Easy<br />Thu 15:06, 18:09, 0.83, 20%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:19, 4:00, 1.08, 82%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:06, 5:13, 0.79, 0%, Easy (Lowest ratio of 220 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 5:07, 6:17, 0.81, 6%, Easy (13th lowest ratio of 217 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 8:56, 10:24, 0.86, 22%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9494551797383284442014-02-27T19:54:12.142-05:002014-02-27T19:54:12.142-05:00Put me down fully in the I love quips camp. i just...Put me down fully in the I love quips camp. i just think they're fun, and i haven't run across many lately. I Almost had a DNF at the AMAZIN/AZORES cross. I had no idea about the Met's website, and for some was thinking a Spanish name when I had A_ORES. AJORES? AJORES? I did finally manage to pull AZORES out of my brain. I still had no idea what amazin (ama zin?) had to do with the Mets until I came to the blog. Yeesh.<br /><br />DIURNAL came quickly for me, as I work for a sewage treatment agency and the flows we treat are all diurnal. Normal everyday vocabulary for me, so it was strange to see it as Rex's word of the day. I grew up in Michigan, where I drank POP, but now in California I drink SODA. There's a quiz floating around the Internet thanks asks you about the words you use and pronunciation, then indicates where you live. It's reasonably accurate. Soda/pop is one of the questions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04983081176623722693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48152448129180114862014-02-27T19:28:49.593-05:002014-02-27T19:28:49.593-05:00@anonymous 4:41 - Thanks. I read Will's commen...@anonymous 4:41 - Thanks. I read <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=2/27/2014" rel="nofollow">Will's comments</a>. I agree with, "I don't think crosswords have to avoid all difficult words," and the basic premise of, "I don't judge a puzzle by its worst entries. I judge it by its overall effect." "Overall effect" can be broken down into constituent parts (we are the philosophical children of Aristotle, after all) but as a general premise/approach I find much more to like than to dislike in making publishing decisions this way.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31927764373375700142014-02-27T17:33:53.888-05:002014-02-27T17:33:53.888-05:00Good puzzle with many beautiful words, yellowy not...Good puzzle with many beautiful words, yellowy not one of them. It was a medium for me, the grid looked weird after the first few minutes, almost like a trail going from the NW to the SE.<br /><br />Wow, I'm bad, I wanted "hurt", then "live" at 3D. <br /><br />I especially like "foodie", for obvious reasons, and cabal is pretty, too. Chose up is new to me. I don't mind puns, especially when they help me out here and there.<br /><br />Are you and your dad in an airport waiting area, going on a trip, @Rex?machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87158763084835852712014-02-27T17:13:33.208-05:002014-02-27T17:13:33.208-05:00Midday 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 14:41, 18:09, 0.81, 18%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Thu 9:10, 10:24, 0.88, 25%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40932452030029533372014-02-27T16:51:01.143-05:002014-02-27T16:51:01.143-05:00@George.. Enjoyed your sluggers.. TYVM@George.. Enjoyed your sluggers.. TYVMKretchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13770156311787985572014-02-27T16:41:57.309-05:002014-02-27T16:41:57.309-05:00All four blogs l read included the same long const...All four blogs l read included the same long constructor quote. Just a suggestion that maybe the four of you could coordinate more.<br /><br />Btw, Will Shorts has an interesting response on Jeff's blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36540286872746748042014-02-27T15:50:13.361-05:002014-02-27T15:50:13.361-05:00Yes, the cluing was excellent, not so much clever,...Yes, the cluing was excellent, not so much clever, but I found for many of them, the answer wasn't immediately apparent, but when one or two letters showed up, it became more so. There is a talent to cluing like that.Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48138491049966795872014-02-27T14:47:23.349-05:002014-02-27T14:47:23.349-05:00At 10:30 I posted
"@wreck 12:21 AM I thoug...At 10:30 I posted <br /><br /> "@wreck 12:21 AM I thought your comment yesterday about existential crisis was cute and in no way Rexist. When Rex mentioned the puzzle lacked a sense of purpose I groaned a bit too and enjoyed your gentle poke. "<br /><br />Sorry, I misattributed the comment to @wreck. It was actually @Garth who made the comment. Not sure what people are complaining to @wreck about. I'll have to review yesterday's comments again.jburgsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20673831159003081642014-02-27T14:36:59.218-05:002014-02-27T14:36:59.218-05:00@JohnV - here in Wilmington we have a sandwich sho...@JohnV - here in Wilmington we have a sandwich shop call Beef on Weck. every thing there is solo good including that sandwichchefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27221634364906867212014-02-27T14:22:14.640-05:002014-02-27T14:22:14.640-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Numinoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01263999193499725814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87418616227742708172014-02-27T14:21:34.603-05:002014-02-27T14:21:34.603-05:00My wife, who is a Southern Belle from middle Georg...My wife, who is a Southern Belle from middle Georgia assures me that throughout the south the generic term for SODA POP is "coke". She says that in many houses Coke would be all there was but if there's a choice you might hear an exchange like:<br />"You want a coke?"<br />"Sure!"<br />"What kind?"<br />"Oh, 7Up, I guess."<br />I suppose this comes from the fact that Coke was invented in Atlanta and blossomed outward from there.<br /><br />For a brief while in Sydney, I drove a TAXI and I had a TAXI driver's license but on the side of my TAXI it said "YELLOW CAB."<br /><br />Seeing but not entering FAKE but entering DIURNAL gave me FACADE and I was off and running. I was a little slow in the south because things like ARDOR, WHINY, HATE and FOODIE required a little reflection. I kind of liked the staggered pairs of Os down there. I caught on to the gist of the quotation fairly early but needed crosses to fill it in correctly. <br /><br />All in all, I found this to be easy with no temptation to google at all. Zero write-overs. A lot of the solutions, like DIURNAL, I just knew.<br /><br />Stanley Newman is New to me but I'll look out for more of his puzzles in the future.Numinoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01263999193499725814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82271606536600078952014-02-27T14:12:33.023-05:002014-02-27T14:12:33.023-05:00@Harrison
I still don't know what I've s...@Harrison <br /><br />I still don't know what I've said that you think is so egregious. Because Evan disagreed with my opinion, he wants me to stop coming here as well?? I think your the one who seems to be overly obsessed. I've made no bones about my respect for Rex and his blog -- I just don't agree with his opinions sometimes - usually when his opinions are personal in nature. If I hated Rex so much as you seem to think -- why would I have contributed to his site. Maybe NSA President was referring to YOU as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27081315389984077032014-02-27T13:23:33.839-05:002014-02-27T13:23:33.839-05:00p.s.
Day-um. Almost forgot 4-Oh's Picture of ...p.s.<br />Day-um. Almost forgot 4-Oh's Picture of Mystery.<br />Top most likely explanations/locations for the P.O.M.:<br /><br />* Juvie Hall hearin.<br />* PTL revival meetin.<br />* Second-worst choir performance of all time.<br />* Bananarama concert. Lil 4-Oh is clearly groovin to the beat.<br />* Auditions for "The Miracle Worker". Prelim round.<br />* Dan Quayle for President fundraiser.<br />* Special showing of "Gigi". 3-D version.<br />* Town hall meetin. Topic: city ordinance outlawin quip puzs.<br />* Annual pewit-watchers get-together. 4-Oh mainly came for the refreshments.<br />* Eye exam. Free to public clinic deal. Needed to dilate the lil dude.<br />* Father and son picnic. 4-Oh's loud shirt caused violent thunderstorm, so was moved indoors.<br /><br />Real cute pic, actually. Thanx for sharin.<br />M&AM and Alsonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42959962932239563312014-02-27T13:22:01.530-05:002014-02-27T13:22:01.530-05:00In Buffalo, my home town, it is POP. Ask for a sod...In Buffalo, my home town, it is POP. Ask for a soda, you will get that ice cream concoction. Ask for SODAPOP, you will get a blank stare. Ask for beef on weck and you will be happy. You could look it up. <br /><br />Three and out. John Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557037910799243636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30653965945204233082014-02-27T12:39:16.871-05:002014-02-27T12:39:16.871-05:00@Bob K... re: "Why is a SODAPOP like a TAXICA...@Bob K... re: "Why is a SODAPOP like a TAXICAB?"<br />Both are metal on the outside and sticky on the inside? <br />Probably wrong again, M&A breath.<br /><br />fave colorful fill:<br />* YELLOW Y<br />* RED RAFT<br />* TAN NERY<br />* AZO RES<br />* DYE D<br />Tho, really, Stan, NERY and RES are kinda desperate. <br /><br />Quote puz on a ThursPuz. I will talk more about that choice, after y'all leave.<br /><br />fave near miss: D'URINAL. I notice that happens a lot, at the movie theatres. Dudes are in a hurry to get back to the show, I reckon.<br /><br />har. CHOSEUP + LAYUPS + SHRIVEL no-up. AMA + AMA ZIN. YEA + AYES. TOO + TOO. Primo stuff. Forces my hand... thUmbsUp.<br /><br />M&AMasked and Anonymo3Usnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68932275061440504902014-02-27T12:38:57.170-05:002014-02-27T12:38:57.170-05:00@Bob K...well, the regionality of words always are...@Bob K...well, the regionality of words always are amusing to me especially if they happen to be redundant. <br />I had never heard the word SODA POP until I was about 13. Where I lived it was always Coke or Nehi...COKEPOP NEHIPOP PEAPODS PIEPODS....;-)GILL I.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05605766053820226324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58910895686541708332014-02-27T12:26:55.671-05:002014-02-27T12:26:55.671-05:00I LOVE this puzzle! As I was reading many of the ...I LOVE this puzzle! As I was reading many of the clues, I was thinking: I don't know what the answer is, but it is going to be fun to figure it out! That has to be the best sort of clueing. This is the first puzzle by Stanley Newman that I have noticed since I started paying attention to the authors, so I added him to my favorite constructor list - the first addition in many months. Cheeriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919455386774076690noreply@blogger.com