tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post7047201053354263105..comments2024-03-29T07:17:55.045-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: #2 hit by Richard Harris / 3-31-14 / Jane Fonda sci-fi / Ars PoeticaRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73502047720817503912014-05-05T19:30:13.078-04:002014-05-05T19:30:13.078-04:00Dive/DROP & INQUiry/INQUEST also. The 1st, 2nd...Dive/DROP & INQUiry/INQUEST also. The 1st, 2nd and 4th MA/PA were kind of related. MACARTHURPARK wasn't. <br /><br />He went to the MASQUERADEPARTY before the MARDIGRASPARADE then visited the MASSAGEPARLOR.<br /><br />Fun Monday, Mr. Cirillo.<br /><br />Four nines beats my boat.Solving in Seattlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249420848844874936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3807264533633707952014-05-05T18:47:24.373-04:002014-05-05T18:47:24.373-04:00Sometimes on an "easy" puzzle I just thr...Sometimes on an "easy" puzzle I just throw things against the wall to see what sticks. Stuff that didn't stick today included INQUiry (Hi, @rainy), Dive (DROP) and a couple of misguided attempts at spelling MACARTHUR. All easitly fixed but they made for a "less than pristine" completed grid. <br /><br />Maybe a pair of 9s and a pair of 5s is better than four 9s on grounds of "diversity"?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62292390706927600242014-05-05T13:54:05.294-04:002014-05-05T13:54:05.294-04:00Fun puzzle. Can't recall ever hearing the song...Fun puzzle. Can't recall ever hearing the song but I did visit MACARTHURPARK many moons ago, and remember a pretty place with a pond and ducks. Sad to learn that's no longer the case. Tempest does not always fuget in a good way.<br /><br />Can't beat all those 9's!DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75214864985611577012014-05-05T13:09:02.432-04:002014-05-05T13:09:02.432-04:00@Casco Kid, Gordon Lightfoot and MACARTHURPARK sho...@Casco Kid, Gordon Lightfoot and MACARTHURPARK should not be in the same sentence. Gord rules!<br /><br />This puzzle ruled as well. INQUiry befor INQUEST, but the rest came mostly from acrosses. Bouncy, "crunchy", fun.<br /><br />Insane capcha looking at me. Nope, gotta go up against @Spacey's four 9's. Nope, again. Only 8's full of 4's.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50361075920832634632014-05-05T11:19:43.182-04:002014-05-05T11:19:43.182-04:00Unforced Scrabbliness, a simple yet dense theme an...Unforced Scrabbliness, a simple yet dense theme and the huge bonus BARBARELLA make this one a keeper. Wonderfully camp, it gave the feel of a comic book, but filmed live-action instead of animated. And Jane was...fit, as always. Wonder what the now-serious Jane thinks of that moment in her career. Lotsa fun.<br /><br />Worst entry = UNAPT. It's inept.<br /><br />Wow, back-to-back quad nines!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91581233797777955712014-03-31T18:31:27.260-04:002014-03-31T18:31:27.260-04:00Thanks again for all the nice comments. I'm g...Thanks again for all the nice comments. I'm glad everyone seems to have enjoyed it. <br /><br />I really wanted to get MAndy PAtinkin in there as a theme answer b/c my daughter is a big musical theater fan and Evita is one of her favorites. Of course, he was Che. I thought MAxfield PArrish would have been neat too. But there's only so much room.<br /><br />One last note on the puzzle. The final version I submitted had the following as the NW corner:<br /><br />GIGI<br />AMIN<br />MASQ<br />EXHU<br /><br />I suppose it was changed b/c of the possible Natick at 1A/3D on a Monday.<br /><br />@Lewis - thanks for the wonderful compliment. that's a lot to live up to.Rob Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23994435116278190122014-03-31T17:51:57.490-04:002014-03-31T17:51:57.490-04:00I have no idea how "this" became "t...I have no idea how "this" became "this was." The 5 beers at the ball game cannot have been the reason.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87548256127566489892014-03-31T17:49:24.336-04:002014-03-31T17:49:24.336-04:00@Penna Resident - as with so many other things (th...@Penna Resident - as with so many other things (though certainly not all) Mr. Ford is ahead of his time. One of Steve Job's secrets at Apple was keeping to the rule of 3. In any particular product line Apple will give it's customers three choices. Early this was restriction of the customers' choices were oft criticized. Nothing shuts up the critics as much as success. Still, I don't see any real difference between your version of the Ford quote and the puzzle's.<br /><br />@David in CA - For the second day in a row I see an email follow-up from a commenter saying their post has been deleted. I just looked and I see no post from you at 4:34, the time the email of your (2nd?) post showed up. I have no clue as to why, other than to say it isn't that you offended the blogmaster.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19108071049260187032014-03-31T17:23:38.716-04:002014-03-31T17:23:38.716-04:00@Benko. i was referring to the quote in his book,...@Benko. i was referring to the quote in his book, not the claim regarding when he had said it. according to him, he made the statement in 2009 in response to having too many colors available previously. he was complaining that people had too much choice and didnt need it because they didnt understand the choices they were making. <br /><br />the bottom line is that he did say it in the book, which makes it a valid quote. my point was that what he wrote is often misquoted, including here.Penna Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15060369473321156202014-03-31T16:53:27.462-04:002014-03-31T16:53:27.462-04:00@penna resident-- Although Ford claimed to have s...@penna resident-- Although Ford claimed to have said that in his autobiography, it's unlikely that he actually did. The earliest Model T's were available in a variety of colors--black not being one of them, in the first year. Later, for a period, Model T's were only available in black because it was cheaper for the Ford manufacturing process, but that was after Ford claimed to have said that famous saying (he claimed it was in 1909).<br />As he also said, "History is more or less bunk."Benkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14316834786697781232014-03-31T16:52:27.089-04:002014-03-31T16:52:27.089-04:00@lms - I left inept out because it did not fit the...@lms - I left inept out because it did not fit the clue. The ones I mentioned did.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12488635266232569822014-03-31T16:34:31.035-04:002014-03-31T16:34:31.035-04:00hmmm...was I offensive? Me comment it hath vanishe...hmmm...was I offensive? Me comment it hath vanished!<br />A wonderful puzzle, but picking nits, APED is not a suitable replacement for PARROTED, even if they both mean imitated - one is physical, the other verbal. <br /><br />Also must side with the offended massager @11:11. Saying "often-seedy" implies a predominance I think, which is hardly the case. Like saying "often-dishonest profession" for lawyer might annoy quite a few honest lawyers.<br /><br />re. MacArthur Park: wonderful entry to the Bulwer-Lytton bad-writing contest years back: "She was as unhappy as when someone puts your cake out in the rain, and all the sweet green icing flows down and then you lose the recipe, and on top of that you can't sing worth a damn."David IN CAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88268015547976488722014-03-31T16:22:11.187-04:002014-03-31T16:22:11.187-04:00I've only started doing Mon. & Tues. NYT p...I've only started doing Mon. & Tues. NYT puzzles since I joined this blog. Many of you have become distinct personalities to me, and I enjoy spending time with you. I really like the idea of limiting clues to just the "acrosses," will start tomorrow.Fred Romagnolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11994837736408182418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29906645962923272482014-03-31T16:19:18.548-04:002014-03-31T16:19:18.548-04:00Midday 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 />Mon 6:04, 6:12, 0.98, 38%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:13, 3:58, 1.06, 79%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />@lawprof ... both Rex's and the ratings I post are relative difficulty ratings and take into account the day of the week. While I agree that solve time is not the only indicator of a puzzle's difficulty, I think it's a pretty decent proxy as long as you adjust in some way for the day of the week. But I've always been a numbers guy (a statistician/data manager by trade), so I bring that bias to the table.<br /><br />That said, I'm having a hard time understanding why this puzzle is rating as difficult as it is. The Top 100 rating will most likely wind up in the Medium range by day's end. I went right through it with hardly a pause and ended up with my 5th fastest Monday since I began recording my solve times 5 years ago. I guess I was just in tune with the constructor.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3977344410681020212014-03-31T16:17:38.668-04:002014-03-31T16:17:38.668-04:00this may seem a subtle point, and outright errors ...this may seem a subtle point, and outright errors in clues are uncommon, but by shortening 60A "car famously available in any color, as long as it was black" is like play it again sam.<br /><br />what ford actually said was "any customer can have a car painted any color <b>that he wants</b> so long as it is black.". i always felt the importance of stating it in this way was that a person could get the color he wants - as long as the color that he wants is black. eliminating these words seems to make no sense.Penna Residentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69077619810568920962014-03-31T15:55:10.671-04:002014-03-31T15:55:10.671-04:00Wonderful puzzle, yes. But a couple nits:
APED=PAR...Wonderful puzzle, yes. But a couple nits:<br />APED=PARROTED? NOT! Sure they both mean imitated, but I don't think you would ever replace one with the other. Parroting is verbal, aping is physical.<br /><br />@Two Ponies<br /> I have to side with the offended massage therapist @11:11. to say "often-seedy" really implies a predominance. Perhaps if it had been qualified with "in Las Vegas" that would have been reasonable.<br /><br />re. Macarthur Park:<br />Perhaps my favorite Bulwer-Lytton contest entry from the 90's:<br />"She was as unhappy as when someone puts your cake out in the rain, and all the sweet green icing flows down and then you lose the recipe, and on top of that you can't sing worth a damn."David IN CAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86144127412640126902014-03-31T15:04:17.789-04:002014-03-31T15:04:17.789-04:00I always hear the Waylon Jennings version in my he...I always hear the Waylon Jennings version in my head when I think of "MacArthur Park." In his version, the symbolism of the cake out in the rain as a disintegrating relationship seems far clearer.<br />Interestingly (to me), the song was originally intended to be performed by the Association, but they refused to record it.Benkonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90804560735427671982014-03-31T14:50:42.734-04:002014-03-31T14:50:42.734-04:00@ludyjynn 11:42
Great story AND MAndy PAtinkin fit...@ludyjynn 11:42<br />Great story AND MAndy PAtinkin fits this theme!!!<br /><br />Great great puzzle tho working backwards without reading the clue I started writing in MAcysdayPARADE which makes no sense.<br /><br />And hand up for thinking BALL better than PArty, but minor stretch. <br />@Rob C<br />The PAr was good consistency if not conscious, as @joho said it MAde it PArallel and above par! Or below, whichever is the compliment.<br />Also I think MARDIGRAS is always said as one concept so it didn't "read" as three words.<br /><br />Like folks pointing out the MAPA/MPAA OPTIN/PINOT anagramming, that kind of close, but positive, read of the puzzle is fabulous!<br /><br />Nice sprinkling of Js and Ks and X. EXHUSBAND is a wonderful long nontheme entry!<br /><br />(thanks for the shoutout, @Lewis 12:13, tho change the byline and this might've been torn to shreds by some!)<br /><br />Loved the puzzle, loved the pic of Larry David and the Seinfeldian write up!!! Very funny, gals!Arco maCarthur Massagesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30771964487663019962014-03-31T14:35:43.278-04:002014-03-31T14:35:43.278-04:00The clue for "Masquerade Party" may be i...The clue for "Masquerade Party" may be iffy, but the phrase has some history. There was a TV show in the '50s called "Masquerade Party." The list of people involved reads like a "Who's Who" of early game shows. Google "masquerade party tv show" or go straight to Wikipedia for more details.<br /><br />I'm sure a clue such as "early TV game show" would have generated far more complaints than the one used.foxaronihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00085435659928443459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12750833212524249212014-03-31T14:25:26.500-04:002014-03-31T14:25:26.500-04:00A gem. I loved how the "rural couple" d...A gem. I loved how the "rural couple" didn't stay down on the farm but got around to all kinds of places. <br /><br />Thank you, @Robert Cirillo - this was a real treat.Carolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15971759975067250908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67382275749760361652014-03-31T13:17:10.445-04:002014-03-31T13:17:10.445-04:00I used to be jealous that you are Rex's BFFS. ...I used to be jealous that you are Rex's BFFS. Now, it is obvious it is because you met LD!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40098142881478326392014-03-31T12:59:06.436-04:002014-03-31T12:59:06.436-04:00Seems that most folks rate a puzzle's difficul...Seems that most folks rate a puzzle's difficulty by the time it takes them to complete it: fast = easy; slow = difficult. The day of the week is also a factor so that, e.g., a 10-minute Monday and a 1-hour Saturday might both be rated easy. <br /><br />I find myself using a different standard. Like @okanaganer suggests, an easy puzzle is one that can be solved using only the across clues. To the extent that one must consult the downs, the puzzle becomes increasingly difficult. Of course, the "time" standard and the "resort to downs" standard are highly correlated, but the latter affords (at least for me) a more visceral test of the puzzle's difficulty. So, in this case, medium for a Monday.<br /><br />As awful as Macarthur Park's lyrics are, the image of that cake left out in the rain is one that will persist forever. Most awfulness is forgettable; some is classic.lawprofnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55989120211622858172014-03-31T12:58:31.385-04:002014-03-31T12:58:31.385-04:00@BobK: I prefer to think of my runtpuzs as "p...@BobK: I prefer to think of my runtpuzs as "perfectly inconsistent" within their structure. Happy U-know-what. ...also, happy 34-Across clue nod!! MAANDPA about as close as **I'll** ever come.<br /><br />p.s. And Big Congrats on your buzzer-beater, edgin M&A out on the retired_chemist riddle. Lost valuable nanoseconds, plowin thru four or five really buttugly captchas. See what @muse did? Overlooks the dude who took her out to the nice Brooklunch, and credits the second-place snotpicker who went all craven and stood er up. day-um.<br /><br />@the gal with the many Ponies: PuzEatinSpouse sees nothin at all wrong in the world with 24-hr foot rub joints. She is addicted.<br /><br />@Collins dude (ex-pewit-grudge constructioneer): Alas, the curse of M&A rootin for the Michigan teams comes thru...<br /><br />M&AM and Alsonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68865886254452845902014-03-31T12:46:48.901-04:002014-03-31T12:46:48.901-04:00Dave Barry's 1993 survey found MACARTHURPARK t...Dave Barry's 1993 survey found MACARTHURPARK the worst song ever. His 1993 Miami Herald column on the subject is worth googling (sorry, I don't know how to insert links). Barry eventually wrote a book on the subject, people enjoy this madness.<br /><br />Very nice medium Monday puzzle with a fun theme. Nifty write-up from Rex's BFF's too.<br /><br />Mohair Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502840715719161565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11589250497757692672014-03-31T12:41:54.863-04:002014-03-31T12:41:54.863-04:00I guess the puzzle was OK but when it clued Barbar...I guess the puzzle was OK but when it clued Barbarella my brain pan went to jello because the movie was directed by a hero of mine during my raging hormonal youth. He was the epitome of "cool'. Roger Vadim. He was not particularly handsome but rugged in a downhill slalom skier way. His father was a French diplomat and his friend Andre Gide did not like the first book he wrote and set him up in films. While an excellent director, we jugendlicher idolized him for his choice of wives and girlfriends. None of his early wives and/or girlfriends were over 30 years old. As he got much older the ages of his lady friends increased up into the 30s. And when he died in 2000 at the age of 72 his ex wives and current wife were all at his funeral. That was a man.<br /><br />Brigitte Bardot (W) - 18 (And God Created Woman - still the sexiest movie ever made. OK, Maybe Last Tango in Paris is a close second)<br /><br />Annette Stroyberg (W) - 22 Danish actress in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (remade later with Glenn Close and Malkovich)<br /><br />Jane Fonda (W) - 28 - Barbarella<br /><br />Catherine Schneider (W) - socialite<br /><br />Catherine Deneuve - French actress, had his child.<br /><br />Angie Dickerson - girl friend<br /><br />Ursula Andress - 18 - Honey Rider in the movie Dr. No (met during filming of una americano a roma)JTHurstnoreply@blogger.com