tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post781958380593585238..comments2024-03-28T16:18:29.258-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Shelter dug into hillside / FRI 7-5-13 / Cornish knight of Round Table / Jet wing warning / Bud of Nancy / I Ching figures / Ghost character Brown / 1980s TV outfit / Epithet for computer whizRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41132574662282371372013-08-10T20:52:56.762-04:002013-08-10T20:52:56.762-04:00Chiming in a day late even by syndi-time standards...Chiming in a day late even by syndi-time standards because a lightning strike caused a power outage that delay publication of the local paper - what's up with these tropical-storm conditions in Maine, anyway?<br /><br />Finished with the same error as Rex(!) plus a blank square at the (J)on/(J)utes cross. Ron/Don/Jon all seemed equally plausible and the early British invaders were a mystery.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82822939863554817292013-08-09T18:14:43.604-04:002013-08-09T18:14:43.604-04:00The WAShington State area and in particular its WA...The WAShington State area and in particular its WASABI and WASATCH components did me in. Otherwise slowly evolved the rest of the puzzle though was sure MESIAL (huh?) was wrong til I arrived here.<br /><br />But how can one not be impressed with JULYIV... tour de force across the middle? Wow!<br /><br /> Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21494026375752778572013-08-09T17:44:20.886-04:002013-08-09T17:44:20.886-04:00@Rex's "Owch. Double-over-and-grimace-in-...@Rex's "Owch. Double-over-and-grimace-in-pain Owch" comment about 59A was especially meaningful to me. Trying to recover from very painful medical procedure, that's where I pretty much was at when I started the puzzle. Vicodin wasn't helping, so I dove in to at least try and distract my mind.<br /><br />It seemed like every answer had to be slowly teased out, but I persevered since I couldn't think of anything better to be doing. Being an old blues/R&B guy, I actually knew TAMLA. Yet, I expected the date to be 1886, which is when the statue was dedicated. Took some head scratching to realize that this was going to be Independence Day (less obvious since I'm doing this on August 9).<br /><br />My knowledge of German pronouns is less than zero, so I guessed at IHRs, which left me at long last with ODAMAs. Since ODA MAE meant nothing to me, that's how it stayed.<br /><br />For a long time I had LASALLE instead of WASATCH, since I've actually bicycled thru the LaSalles near Moab. Finally let go of that one, but then had IDEOGRAMS, which is technically correct for the I Ching. At last WASABI brought that corner into focus.<br /><br />By now isn't CRT an archaic term for a video screen? I guess they're still used somewhere, just not in my house. That whole southwest was a MESIAL mess, with the ridiculous ABRI-RECURVE cross. R? D? Coin toss.<br /><br />The rest was still work, albeit more rewarding. At least it kept me occupied.<br /><br />And now back to my Vicodin vacation.Cary in Bouldernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56737639702649167572013-08-09T14:57:54.673-04:002013-08-09T14:57:54.673-04:00Sure didn't finish this one, all those names! ...Sure didn't finish this one, all those names! Did get WASATCH somehow from associating the name with what I recalled sounded like "sawtooth"-can't explain that kind of thing. ABRI, which stumped so many, was a write-in for me. I learned it from puzzles, must have been in the Maleska days. However, stuck thinking Nat or Ted, I couldn't come up with Ike, and was actually wondering if the turner clue referred to pancake turners or some such. So DNF the SW, and really DNF the NE. Nothing came there. Know one German pronoun, "mien", never saw "Working Girl" or "Ghost" and KIDNAP did not occur to me. Guess this makes up for yesterday's romp!<br /><br />Just ran across, and smiled at, the term "seminal Natick researcher". Seems made for some of our ilk!<br /><br />And I have the Captcha that defines captchas: gemsthey.DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26977498844426740542013-08-09T13:25:08.597-04:002013-08-09T13:25:08.597-04:00Just when I thought I was getting good at Friday p...Just when I thought I was getting good at Friday puzzles this one humbled me. Got the NW and SE OK but drew a blank on the rest.<br /><br />Put in IKETTES because I saw them years ago (one of the best sexy shows I ever attended) but resorted to a bunch of Googles to fill it in.<br /><br />Big DNF for me.BedfordBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08348600333498878554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1247913772597229652013-08-09T13:08:52.770-04:002013-08-09T13:08:52.770-04:00Got it! Yahoo!
After running into roadblocks up ...Got it! Yahoo!<br /><br />After running into roadblocks up North, I went South and immediately got IKETTES,RECURVE, and BEARCAT. My son took archery lessons, where they use RECURVE bows, and they do bend backwards at the tips. Getting this section gave me LOSEFACE, and so MESIAL, which of course I didn't know had to be the answer. <br /><br />Actually the entire bottom part of the puzzle was much easier than the top, and working up enabled me to trash ARTshop, and either DOPEY or HAPPY for the dwarf (hey, it was possible). My last square was the D at the DEVAL/DRT cross, and that was just an educated guess because I just knew that Richard Gere was not Mr.T.<br /><br />I actually like this puzzle except for MESIAL, but it is a word which I now know.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17867703263590545302013-08-09T12:30:35.172-04:002013-08-09T12:30:35.172-04:00After finishing (!!!) this one--still can't be...After finishing (!!!) this one--still can't believe I did it--I was pleased to find a straight "challenging" rating by OFL, and that's a rare sight. But like him I was twisted into a pretzel trying to think what LODEFACE meant. I had medical training, and I NEVER! EVER! heard the term "MESIAL." Doesn't even sound right. I don't care if a couple of you recognize it. I'm throwing the flag anyway. That's just awful. 99.9999% of solvers would put a D in there and forget about it.<br /><br />Well, if you love ROMAnumerals this is your Nirvana! Oop, wrong mythset. Give me your tired (ACNE), your poor (RECURVE? Really?), etc. I yearned to breathe free from this baby and at last parsed out THEATEAM--one of my all-time faves--as being the "outfit" of 31a, not clothes. Wanted DuVAL for the longest time, but I had the guv mixed up with 59-shooting David of the PGA.<br /><br />I agree with @Benko: I can still remember the DJ's saying "TAMLA-Motown" all in one. Never knew the bit about declumping payola, though. Makes sense. Come here, learn something new every day.<br /><br />MESIAL. Sheesh!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39663026922866554732013-07-18T00:39:35.538-04:002013-07-18T00:39:35.538-04:00Looks like Jon Hamm to me. And if you read the co...Looks like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804503/?ref_=sr_1" rel="nofollow">Jon Hamm</a> to me. And if you read the comments above I think you find out all you need about MESIAL. Marvinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38586390874683178632013-07-17T23:46:42.501-04:002013-07-17T23:46:42.501-04:00Ok I'm new to more challenging crosswords but ...Ok I'm new to more challenging crosswords but this one was stupid. I do use aids like google and Wikipedia when especially stumped. The online dictionary does show that mesial is a proper word for the middle but it is actually the middle part of the lower jaw. According to IMDB.com the Internet movie data base the character is Don Hamm not Jon Hamm. <br /><br />Someone is wrong and I've never watched Mad Men so I don't know. Thanks for your help. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80985517954224653792013-07-06T12:28:27.429-04:002013-07-06T12:28:27.429-04:00Finally got to read all the comments, and
(1) Su...Finally got to read all the comments, and <br /><br />(1) Surprised no one posted a link to this <a href="http://www.nps.gov/featurecontent/stli/eTourLite/scene12.htm" rel="nofollow"> image of the Statue of Liberty's tablet.</a><br /><br />(2) The Mau Mau uprising was truly horrible, but for every death of a British combatant, from 60 to 100 Mau Mau combatants died. And how many British civilians were killed? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Actually, 32. (Too many, of course . . .)<br /><br />(3) The Jutes came from the Jutland peninsula, where Denmark is, another group of Scandinavian raiders to seek treasure in Britain.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18920636750158975602013-07-06T04:51:42.392-04:002013-07-06T04:51:42.392-04:00PS LAne B and other newish constructors, I would b...PS LAne B and other newish constructors, I would be happy to look at your fill and point out the trouble spots and perhaps save you some time, rejection-wise.<br />(If you see this, you can always write to me full name at gmail.)acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81759068410860374532013-07-06T04:47:56.736-04:002013-07-06T04:47:56.736-04:00@LaneB
Keep at it...no one gets a break! But fwiw...@LaneB<br />Keep at it...no one gets a break! But fwiw, ESAI is in a million puzzles and is fine fill...but he is not Mexican! He was born in Brooklyn with parents from Puerto Rico.<br />(Used to know him a million and a half years ago).acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76160213967045264082013-07-06T00:50:36.862-04:002013-07-06T00:50:36.862-04:00This 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 5:45, 6:12, 0.93, 16%, Easy<br />Tue 7:59, 8:19, 0.96, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 9:55, 9:44, 1.02, 59%, Medium<br />Thu 10:28, 16:29, 0.63, 3%, Easy (6th lowest ratio of 184 Thursdays)<br />Fri 22:33, 21:03, 1.07, 71%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:31, 3:49, 0.92, 13%, Easy<br />Tue 5:01, 5:00, 1.01, 53%, Medium<br />Wed 5:58, 5:38, 1.06, 67%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 6:58, 9:30, 0.73, 7%, Easy<br />Fri 14:41, 12:19, 1.19, 79%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37856902795300415562013-07-05T20:39:15.086-04:002013-07-05T20:39:15.086-04:00Sorry, finished with TIMLA/YIPS AT.Sorry, finished with TIMLA/YIPS AT.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4696139723443602292013-07-05T20:36:03.627-04:002013-07-05T20:36:03.627-04:00No time to read right now, but hand up for finishi...No time to read right now, but hand up for finishing with TIMLA/YAPS AT, apparently common and within the original definition of Natick. <br /><br />Also two write-overs, at 24 D, had FOCH before COTY; my Find function doesn't show that anyone else mentioned that, and I'll have to Google Foch to see if he's a real person. And of course, MEDIAL before MESIAL.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14072584662953655552013-07-05T19:54:31.780-04:002013-07-05T19:54:31.780-04:00Really surprised by all the problems most people f...Really surprised by all the problems most people found with this one. I found it easy for a Friday, but then I usually don't have difficulty with Paula Gamache puzzles.<br /><br /> Surprised to see July mixed in with the Roman numerals, but I guess the Romans would have done it that way. (Have to go to the internet to check out the origins of "July.")michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1418649682411974592013-07-05T19:34:49.329-04:002013-07-05T19:34:49.329-04:00Mostly had fun with this one. Lot's I didn'...Mostly had fun with this one. Lot's I didn't know but was able to coax out. Finally admitted defeat in the SW leaving four blanks (AG of AGFA and IK of IKETTES) and one wrong anwer. If RECURVE, why not DECURVE?<br /><br />I always though of eating crow as having to admit being wrong. I'm not convinced that is the same as losing face.Paul Kellernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15281801662084643832013-07-05T17:57:01.145-04:002013-07-05T17:57:01.145-04:00Midday 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 />Fri 22:31, 21:03, 1.07, 70%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Fri 15:05, 12:19, 1.22, 82%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45161904059187632152013-07-05T17:54:06.121-04:002013-07-05T17:54:06.121-04:00Boo hiss. Sorry, but didn't like this one. And...Boo hiss. Sorry, but didn't like this one. And such a letdown after seeing the byline, too.<br /><br />Uh, the stat is SAVES. Mariano got a SAVE in today's game, which raises his total SAVES for the season to 31.<br /><br />Other crap to complain about in this dreadful puzzle include, aside from the way too obscure cluing/answer/crossing combinations . . .<br /><br />YAPS AT (YIPS AT is better, like a small lap dog)<br />13D should be plural (any respecting sports bar is going to have a multitude of TVs)<br />DR T crossing DEVAL crossing MESIAL (mesian seems just as reasonable and DEVAN seems more reasonable if you didn't know the guv of Mass.)<br />RECURVE = WTF<br />UBER GEEK? Really?<br /><br />My ports go in decanters.Namelessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75747339313898190162013-07-05T17:01:53.603-04:002013-07-05T17:01:53.603-04:00Given my druthers, I prefer a tougher challenge li...Given my druthers, I prefer a tougher challenge like today to a gimme like yesterday. Though MESIAL had me snorting furiously.<br /><br />Best part of this is that I just downloaded some old Stevie and will be cranking it in the camper tonight!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04551716499829677518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32543272821037593302013-07-05T16:37:52.182-04:002013-07-05T16:37:52.182-04:00@Sandy K - Wow, thank you! N-e-v-e-r would have co...@Sandy K - Wow, thank you! N-e-v-e-r would have come up with that. Thanks also for the wikipedia reference - interesting article! I wouldn't have belonged :) So, two new words for me - this one and LONGERON.Carolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15971759975067250908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83624389565727621732013-07-05T16:18:45.084-04:002013-07-05T16:18:45.084-04:00btw, after watching the video (thanks @rex for dig...btw, after watching the video (thanks @rex for digging up these gems! often my fave part of the blog) I think they should have been called the TINETTES.<br />Tina's do may have inspired Michelle O's bangs coif!acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62205714502207007212013-07-05T16:15:18.005-04:002013-07-05T16:15:18.005-04:00Think RECURVE is ridiculous and not a word. I had ... Think RECURVE is ridiculous and not a word. I had RECLINE instead, which kept me from finishing the SW corner. (Got NW by looking up WASATCH. Ba-a-a-ad girl!) And I guessed HIHAT, but it's not in the dictionary. Why not? And what is it? Got TAMLA but never heard of it, even though I own a lot of vinyl. A toughie, and not completely fair, I think.Nancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58530502336356666722013-07-05T16:14:30.363-04:002013-07-05T16:14:30.363-04:00No prob with MESIAL - I have had enough dental wor...No prob with MESIAL - I have had enough dental work done over the years that I know the lingo. Agree with k9doc that it seems to be largely a dental term, but the clue is correct. Slamming it just because the more familiar MEDIAL fits and is kind of a synonym seems to me just snarky.<br /><br />Medium-challenging here. Nothing that killed me but enough headscratchers to keep the entertainment value high. YAPS AT/TAMLA was a quasi-Natick I guessed right on (wrong: YiPS AT/TiMLA). Def: quasi-Natick is a cross in which there are two or more correct alternatives for one answer and the other is a WTF. MESIAL/MEDIAL does not qualify since, as Rex pointed out, only LOSE FACE makes sense.<br /><br />Spent time trying to figure out the date the French gave us the SOL (sometime in the latter half of the 19th century I think). Soon, enough of the correct answer appeared that I saw my efforts were a big waste of time. <br /><br />Fun answers: WASATCH, SHOOFLY, BEARCATS, IKETTES. Less fun: ODA MAE, RECURVE,RCA DOME. IMO nothing ugly.<br /><br />Thanks, Ms. Gamache.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23782655413574894962013-07-05T16:06:42.945-04:002013-07-05T16:06:42.945-04:00@Anonymous in Germany
Is Brennan a signature? I a...@Anonymous in Germany<br />Is Brennan a signature? I ask because that happens to be my last [not terribly uncommon one] name, and perhaps I have a distant relative out therI enjoyed your post, and it appears you are pretty good at this kind of thing. I would like to be but am relatively new to the game and older than hell to boot.<br /><br />'Cheers to yuou.<br />LaneBnoreply@blogger.com