tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8294181374948747266..comments2024-03-29T06:32:07.322-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Compound in Agent Orange / WED 11-28-12 / Toby filler / Poet with fanatic's heart / Fictional Flanders Devine / Gumbo thickener / Young newtRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86041421529666907172013-01-03T10:38:51.345-05:002013-01-03T10:38:51.345-05:00@Anonyrat - The less readable pics will still take...@Anonyrat - The less readable pics will still take any random number. The clearer images need something close to accurate.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35839103408037789392013-01-03T10:30:33.476-05:002013-01-03T10:30:33.476-05:00P.S. - For those of you who are annoyed by Google ...P.S. - For those of you who are annoyed by Google using the Captchas, and us, to help them decipher house numbers, I have discovered that while you can no longer type in a random number, you can get away with typing a number that's reasonably close (e.g., 3 for 8, or 8 for 3) and they will usually accept it. I do it as my one small act of defiance.Anonyratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83896847204317671122013-01-03T10:26:09.666-05:002013-01-03T10:26:09.666-05:00Bix Beiderbecke is the WOTD? If you know anything ...Bix Beiderbecke is the WOTD? If you know anything about Jazz, he's a total gimme. Incidentally, he is also famous, or infamous, for having to managed to drink himself to death by age 27 during Prohibition.<br />Re the theme, folks always complain about Random Roman Numerals in the puzzle, so I guess Mr. Perl decided to give us Random Arabic Numerals (on steroids) just for a change of pace.<br />This is now the third time I've seen EFT, a word I've never seen outside the puzzle, and finally guess-membered it correctly. From now on I going to remember it by thinking baby newts are so defenseless they are much pretty much "eft" if faced with any threat.<br />Re 45A, I was hoping for something a little more amusing, along the lines of "What has six wheels and flies? A garbage truck."<br />@ Z 7:11 AM - In addition to OUI and ETAT, we also had SES, LISLE, ROUX (which was Cajun today) and SAUTEED, so there are actually six French words. OUI and SAUTEED are fine with me since they are common enough to be fair game. I know what "L' etat c'est moi" means, but have never heard the phrase so needed most of the crosses to get it, and never heard of SES, LISLE or ROUX (needed every cross for those). I don't think it's "xenophobic" to object to excessive use of a foreign language in a puzzle. If the puzzles were routinely saturated with Spanish or German words it would be fine for me, but I would still agree with folks who had a problem with it. I don't think the puzzles should be English only, but the use of foreign words should be limited, and should be restricted to words that people here actually would know or use. I just don't think you should need extensive knowledge of a foreign language to do the puzzle, especially a language that is spoken by less than one half of one percent of the population. Spanish is by far the second most common language in this country, and there are no Spanish words in this puzzle. Chinese is third, and there is only one Chinese word, a common menu item that anyone who has ever been to a Chinese restaurant would know. The disproportionate usage of French in the NYT puzzles basically says 'this is a puzzle by elitists for elitists' and the 'riff-raff' can just bugger off.<br />@ Milford 7:24 AM - Yes, despite my general objection to too much French, today was acceptable because it was at least gettable from the crosses. What annoys me is when it is crossed with other obscure foreign words/names that require you to randomly guess if you didn't major in French and/or Arabic/Swahili or some such.<br />Anonyratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49524509799310655442013-01-02T18:31:09.618-05:002013-01-02T18:31:09.618-05:00Hey, @Dirigonzo, let me finish your sentiment...RE...Hey, @Dirigonzo, let me finish your sentiment...REPUBLICANS!<br /><br />I don't know, I sort of liked this one, but it isn't the sort of theme one wants to see often. A change of pace is somewhat refreshing, I think. "Ired" is of course only ever seen in crosswords, and we're never going to get away from those sort of words, so just let it go...<br /><br />Lovely day here on the West Coast.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11372176454123536992013-01-02T17:54:32.973-05:002013-01-02T17:54:32.973-05:00(Sorry, forgot to check the follow-up box.)(Sorry, forgot to check the follow-up box.)Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5290591068641451392013-01-02T17:50:25.667-05:002013-01-02T17:50:25.667-05:00My [sigh] was AHhh, until I came to my SENSES; AHM...My [sigh] was AHhh, until I came to my SENSES; AHME. The ill effects of Agent Orange are still being discovered as Vietnam veterans continue to come down with new maladies related to exposure.<br /><br />I thought people who fear ALIENS were called... (oh,never mind.)Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36975967361523761092013-01-02T15:20:56.996-05:002013-01-02T15:20:56.996-05:00A little ways into this puzzle I latched onto all ...A little ways into this puzzle I latched onto all the x's, so for a brief moment had "xmas", which seemed to fit the imagined pattern. Beyond that, the puzzle sort of solved itself, but then I'm old enough to have met MIss OTIS once or twice, mainly in crosswords.<br />Thanks to @Yahweh for setting me straight on the pamphlets yesterday. Agree with@Diri about the similarity of proselytizing door knockers.DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16211096777380687052013-01-02T12:46:24.300-05:002013-01-02T12:46:24.300-05:00Will, are you all right?? --No way this piece of &...Will, are you all right?? --No way this piece of "jettison" gets into the Times normally. A totally meaningless Algebra I problem necessitates the Fill from Hell. I won't list them; it'd take too long. Two items worth mentioning are IRED--already covered--and the clue for IMEASY: "Fine with me" isn't exactly congruent with that sentiment. Since I had no clue about Porter's Miss OTIS, this off-center clue held me up in the NE for a while.<br /><br />Perhaps one bright spot would be ADMIRE riding next to IMIMPRESSED, but it's a long way from saving this one. A couple of the clues were cute, notably "Parks in front of a bus?" for ROSA, but please, count my vote with the NAYS.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4847433662710583022012-12-03T05:51:28.063-05:002012-12-03T05:51:28.063-05:00I did this puzzle fully drunk and stoned. The whol...I did this puzzle fully drunk and stoned. The whole time I was inexplicably laughing. It was fun enough. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16728558502949565122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3195777570323939962012-11-29T11:08:31.839-05:002012-11-29T11:08:31.839-05:00Question from a newbie: Shouldn't the clue for...Question from a newbie: Shouldn't the clue for 4 Down read," Unlike this clue's answer: Abbr" and not "Unlike this clue: Abbr"?<br /><br />I found this puzzle to be Thursday easy-medium because of all the very short crossword-ese answers.Ben D.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3273166728380914372012-11-29T11:05:58.892-05:002012-11-29T11:05:58.892-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911901473993027184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31384651655995350782012-11-29T01:50:32.807-05:002012-11-29T01:50:32.807-05:00@rex
Was trying to figure out if Purpose was the n...@rex<br />Was trying to figure out if Purpose was the name of the singer singing about Algebra, or if Algebra was her name...<br />Finally googled. Algebra Blessett. Sort of an unfortunate name, but sort of close to Angela Bassett.<br />Seems very cool tho.<br />One of the things I like about this blog is the introduction to new music thru the clips you post.<br />Thank you.<br /><br />@Anony 9:30pm<br />If you are still around...<br />I call them bleedovers (YEATS, EERIE this week)<br />My first ten years doing the puzzle I thought they were intentional, put in there for a connective thread. Will insists not.<br />Now I just enjoy the synchronicity.acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63611208862469941172012-11-28T22:47:15.328-05:002012-11-28T22:47:15.328-05:00@anonymous 1:26pm and @sparky, thank you for askin...@anonymous 1:26pm and @sparky, thank you for asking about BAGEL / Goose Egg! I thought everyone but me knew, so I was shy about asking. I figured Goose Egg as Zero -- used to get those a lot in Obedience Trials with my dogs, alas. Never heard of BAGELed. I guess based on @Bird being more familiar with "donut" for zero, it's just because of the shape. That makes sense. I guess.<br /><br />@sparky, I've enjoyed bialys (only from the Schrafft's cart that used to come around to the Time-Life Building at coffee break time)and eaten Onion Rolls elsewhere. But as @Sharpie suggests, a Bialy may be a subset of the universe "onion rolls" and as such can appear in @John's suggested MapReduce puzzle.<br /><br />@jfc -- regarding no need for trial and error, @Clif had one approach, adding the two equations, which eliminated "Y" in the result, which solved for "X" which could be then plugged into either original equation to get "Y". What I did would work even if you didn't start with "X+Y=" and "X-Y=", which eliminates Y. I solved the second equation for X in terms of Y and plugged that in to first equation to get one equation in one unknown: <br />x-y=4 is equivalent to x=4+y<br />Thus<br />x+y=16 is <br />(4+y)+y=16 or<br />4+2y=16 or<br />2y=16-4 or 2y=12 or y=6<br />Back into either of the originals:<br />x+y=16<br />x+6=16<br />x=10<br /><br />Does doing the puzzle on the computer forbid use of pencils on the side? (this was easy enough to solve in my head, easier than doing it by trial and error, certainly.)<br /><br />Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79233204450312307272012-11-28T22:05:50.133-05:002012-11-28T22:05:50.133-05:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation. 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 6:31, 6:46, 0.96, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 8:20, 8:57, 0.93, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 10:16, 11:48, 0.87, 22%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:44, 3:41, 1.01, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:46, 4:41, 1.02, 59%, Medium<br />Wed 5:51, 5:57, 0.98, 48%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38311103786082190772012-11-28T21:30:46.891-05:002012-11-28T21:30:46.891-05:00The gentleman who served as curator of pianos in B...The gentleman who served as curator of pianos in Brewster, Mass., in the late 1980s (perhaps the only person to ever hold that job) had a "Bix lives" bumper sticker on his car. He was also a Dixieland jazz musician. So 1 Down makes perfect sense. I'm with Rex on some of the fill -- and the algebra. Fairly ho-hum.<br /><br />Has anyone else noticed the tendency for fill to be repeated on consecutive days? YEATS today and yesterday; ICEE (yuck) a couple of weeks back.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78586830849378847472012-11-28T19:43:26.000-05:002012-11-28T19:43:26.000-05:00The Top Ten List of Most-Used Words Today
#10 Eq...The Top Ten List of Most-Used Words Today<br /><br />#10 Equation<br />#9 Random<br />#8 Bagels<br />#7 Bialys<br />#6 Onion rolls<br />#5 Goose eggs<br />#4 Boom<br />#3 Bust<br />#2 Bix Beiderbecke<br />#1 Evil DougNot Lettermannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75955129136551968202012-11-28T19:22:41.100-05:002012-11-28T19:22:41.100-05:00@Z Hey, watch it, I almost take offense to that!@Z Hey, watch it, I almost take offense to that!Rob Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12349051351514883542012-11-28T19:20:19.552-05:002012-11-28T19:20:19.552-05:00Hunh! Late to the party most has been said, but I...Hunh! Late to the party most has been said, but I loved the Xs, the attempt at an original idea...<br />Only thing I was caught up by was the repetitive IMEASY/IMIMPRESSED (crossing with AHME no less!)<br /><br />But as I was noting that in the margin, a commercial for Pillsbury's Crescent rolls came on and the woman said "Wow! IM IMPRESSED" at that moment, so the synchronicity trumped all specific feelings about the puzzle.<br /><br />I think I would have liked to have had it as a puzzle you had to figure out...but the theme definitely gave me the X in BIX which I'd otherwise not have known.<br />Algebra Cosine Minusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50762684123086024742012-11-28T19:01:57.059-05:002012-11-28T19:01:57.059-05:00@LMS - Hear Here?
@Bird 1:45 - Funny.
On Birthda...@LMS - Hear Here?<br /><br />@Bird 1:45 - Funny.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.treelobsters.com/2012/11/423-significant-digits.html" rel="nofollow">On Birthdays</a> ("H-alpha is used as the base unit of time, length, frequency and temperature throughout the universe. Well, the civilized bits of it, at least.")<br /><br />@Rob C - "The smother in syrup test" sounds like something for the fornicating gourmet.<br /><br />@David from CA - <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/random" rel="nofollow">Random</a> doesn't mean what you seem to think it means. The reason so many are calling today's theme "random" is that no one has come up with a reason for this set of equations to be used out of the, literally, infinite possibilities. The pattern yesterday was very easily deduced and commented upon. Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5705130682597971782012-11-28T18:52:53.084-05:002012-11-28T18:52:53.084-05:00Top Ten List of most used words today:
#10 Equati...Top Ten List of most used words today:<br /><br />#10 Equation<br />#9 Random<br />#8 Bagels<br />#7 Bialys<br />#6 Onion rolls <br />#5 Goose eggs<br />#4 Boom<br />#3 Bust<br />#2 Bix Beiderbecke<br />#1 Evil Doug <br /> Not Lettermannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4505491144785282142012-11-28T18:41:36.324-05:002012-11-28T18:41:36.324-05:00Thanks, chefwen! I wouldn't have known since I...Thanks, chefwen! I wouldn't have known since I don't do the LA puzzle. I maintain my anti-shout-out stance, but since we've been celebrating my (un)birthday....<br /><br />Yay!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />I'm famous!!!!!!!<br /><br />Since this is my birth semester, this puzzle was all for me!!!!!!!<br /><br />And in humble honesty now: Doug Peterson---perhaps because of our shared name? perhaps because all Dougs are cool?---has always seemed to treat me with especial courtesy. So while we can presume this puzzle had nothing to do with me, I appreciate the guy. <br /><br />Evilevil doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17593231055589228837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87469441681119322592012-11-28T18:26:00.526-05:002012-11-28T18:26:00.526-05:00Midday 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):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Wed 10:11, 11:48, 0.86, 22%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Wed 5:56, 5:57, 1.00, 53%, Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24661441738198473992012-11-28T18:14:34.337-05:002012-11-28T18:14:34.337-05:00Just a question: all those red marks on Rex's ...Just a question: all those red marks on Rex's puzzle, does that mean he didn't do the puzzle, just click "reveal"?machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28004862160899067422012-11-28T17:00:00.039-05:002012-11-28T17:00:00.039-05:00@Variety... - This one had you enter two random l...@Variety... - This one had you enter two random linear equations, then the solution. Emphasis on random.<br /><br />Yesterday we had to enter several random songs, followed by the singer. Was that thereby an equally terrible theme? The vast majority of themes have a random aspect to them.<br />I happened to solve this one from the bottom up, so got to write in the whole 1st line once I had the 2nd and 3rd theme entries. Made for an easy Wednesday.David from CAnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20988175393838289482012-11-28T16:54:47.981-05:002012-11-28T16:54:47.981-05:00@Sandy K - Totally agree that they are not the sam...@Sandy K - Totally agree that they are not the same. I'd take the bialy over the onion roll any day, I think they have a greater depth of flavor.<br /><br />@ED - You might want to check the LA Times puzzle today, I think you would be amused by it.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.com