tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8317709541521429942..comments2024-03-28T20:26:11.908-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Mercury's winged sandals / SAT 8-30-14 / Synthetic purplish colorant / Musical title character who made us feel alive again / Outlook alternative / London's onetime equivalent of Wall Street / Cloud Shepherd sculptor / Funky Cold Medina rapper / Beverage with triangular logo / Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28139202286159563992022-11-01T23:48:49.996-04:002022-11-01T23:48:49.996-04:00I'm claiming another Natick on TO_E_OC: "...I'm claiming another Natick on TO_E_OC: <i>"Sweet" girl of song</i> can be any viable female name: JADE, JANE, JACE, JALE, JASE, JAYE. I guessed "Jane", being the most common over the years, and that "TONE" might conceivably go with a recording artist, even a rapper.<br /><br />I fully agree that the lower one, the L, should have disqualified the puzzle.<br /><br />Yes, UPC CODE is dead wrong usage, and should <i>not</i> appear in a NYT puzzle unless clued as such -- as are ATM machine, SSN number, please RSVP, and the federal FEMA agency. These are from the Department of Redundancy Department of Monty Python fame.Prunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224476641730508311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38362866667067880862014-10-07T23:07:01.524-04:002014-10-07T23:07:01.524-04:00Agree with the "papas" but keep the rapp...Agree with the "papas" but keep the rappers, tone loc is far less obscure than jean arpAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08553737722019061560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48464154051013113732014-10-06T15:50:29.032-04:002014-10-06T15:50:29.032-04:00It's interesting how one man's meat is ano...It's interesting how one man's meat is another man's poison. I enjoyed Steinberg's last Saturday puzzle (July 5), which was disliked by most and rated "challenging", and thought it was only slightly more difficult than average. This one was a total train wreck for me: a DNF due to multiple lookups, especially in the SW (TONELOC, TALARIA, APE). For me it was the hardest Saturday in months, at least.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11581296428403393997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50939983061113071322014-10-04T18:47:14.314-04:002014-10-04T18:47:14.314-04:00Regardless of what Anonymous@5:24 PM says, I got J...Regardless of what Anonymous@5:24 PM says, I got JANE thinking of the line, Sweet JANE St.Clair from the Barenaked Ladies song, "Jane".<br /><br />Because I DNF'D yesterday, I was determined to finish this one and managed it, with the last entries being the middle P in PAPAS, and the A in the TALARIA/ANC cross. Otherwise, it played easy for a Saturday, with MOZILLA giving me ZZZQUIL early. <br /><br />I don't understand anyone having an aversion to a particular constructor. It just doesn't make sense.<br /><br />Can't read the captcha. Try again. 208 No good.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46299420548616541872014-10-04T17:24:12.861-04:002014-10-04T17:24:12.861-04:00Sweet Jane is a haunting song about heroin addicti...Sweet Jane is a haunting song about heroin addiction.<br />RIP, Lou Reed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48143059203088410822014-10-04T15:36:07.136-04:002014-10-04T15:36:07.136-04:00Too many names in this one. You know them or you d...Too many names in this one. You know them or you don,t! My (un)finished puzzle looks a little strange. Correctly filled everything except the first five vertical columns which have a couple of,(very) lightly penciled errors, 20but are, in essense, blank except for an "i" in sq. 20, the lonely looking MIX in the center, and an "a" in sq. 54. As I'm sure I've said before, I root for puzzles based on word play, not proper name recall, but it seems to be a losing battle!<br /><br />Thought I'd won the hand when Captcha came up 414, but it was an illusion. The screen flashed, and the new deal is a paltry 201!DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88305169963324293572014-10-04T14:00:28.574-04:002014-10-04T14:00:28.574-04:00I Gave up and swear never to do a David S. puzzle ...I Gave up and swear never to do a David S. puzzle again!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br /><br />Ron Diego<br /><br />127=1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26682963282786493592014-10-04T11:34:26.542-04:002014-10-04T11:34:26.542-04:00Nope, too tough for me, at two squares. I have no ...Nope, too tough for me, at two squares. I have no clue about purplish colorants or that particular browser name. Seemed to me that "AZuBLUE," kinda short for azure blue, made the most sense; as for the down, it was pick a vowel, so U. (Cue the losing trombones of "Price is Right").<br /><br />Then there was the one that gave OFL trouble. I wound up with an R in there, for PArAS, as in, medical motherhood designation. As for "ArE and Essence," well, ol' Aldous was known for substance abuse; his titles don't necessarily have to make much sense. (Trombones)<br /><br />Major misdirect with Cash in a country bar. I kept trying to stretch Johnny in there, almost writing in JOHNNNY in desperation. ROSANNE Cash. Right. The one you all think of. Sure. Diabolical.<br /><br />SPONGER threw me, too. Why not simply "sponge?" The R ending is strange to me.<br /><br />Who the hey is "Sweet JANE?" And yes, I agree that UPCCODE is a foul ball. The C is for code. The proper nomenclature is "Uniform product code," or "barcode" for short, but of course bar was in the clue. Similarly, ATM machines are located in factories that make ATMs.<br /><br />I was helped by recalling (with fondness) YASMINE, DELTOID and ALDENTE; pretty much the rest of it was a struggle. And he calls it easy-medium. GOLLY! I did get the ZZZ thing, after first trying DAYQUIL. Well, wouldn't you? Too much tech/rap stuff, and though I figured out OZZFEST, I never could get into that whole family. Just. Too. Weird.<br /><br />3320: wish it was UPONE.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88326825387375928192014-09-16T07:40:21.375-04:002014-09-16T07:40:21.375-04:00Easy? Easy for a Millennial! 3D, 38D, 39D are gi...Easy? Easy for a Millennial! 3D, 38D, 39D are gibberish to a Boomer. SW corner was hopeless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63051986413238654722014-09-01T15:38:17.698-04:002014-09-01T15:38:17.698-04:00I hate to give up on a Saturday puzzle even if it ...I hate to give up on a Saturday puzzle even if it takes me the whole weekend to finish it, but it's now Monday afternoon (Happy Labor Day!) and despite several attempts I am unable to make any headway from where I was when I set it down Saturday night. The top three lines in the NW and the bottom three lines in the SW are largely blank and no amount of staring and rethinking the clues has helped, so there's nothing to do but admit defeat and check the follow-up box to see how my fellow syndies do 4 weeks and 5 days from now.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35210156134782728382014-08-31T11:40:46.930-04:002014-08-31T11:40:46.930-04:00How do you pronounce ZZZQUIL?How do you pronounce ZZZQUIL?Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52378976863843767252014-08-31T02:40:03.197-04:002014-08-31T02:40:03.197-04:00Ir seems to me cluing a two word answer as a forei...Ir seems to me cluing a two word answer as a foreign single word is not fair<br />À LUIPhilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07988007506745985696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74162424750986733962014-08-30T22:48:46.295-04:002014-08-30T22:48:46.295-04:00If you aren't interested in learning pop trivi...If you aren't interested in learning pop trivia and hate wasting time doing puzzles that contain it, which all most all of them do, why aren't you doing Sudoku instead?Just wonderingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23367449382611702672014-08-30T18:50:54.609-04:002014-08-30T18:50:54.609-04:00This 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 6:09, 6:02, 1.02, 62%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 6:48, 7:54, 0.86, 13%, Easy<br />Wed 13:44, 9:31, 1.48, 99%, Challenging (4th highest ratio of 243 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 15:37, 17:37, 0.89, 27%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 21:56, 20:16, 1.08, 72%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 22:41, 25:41, 0.89, 29%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:25, 3:57, 1.12, 88%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:32, 5:21, 0.85, 5%, Easy (12th lowest ratio of 245 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 10:11, 6:08, 1.60, 99%, Challenging (3rd highest ratio of 243 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 10:08, 10:56, 0.93, 32%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 16:21, 13:48, 1.18, 78%, Medium-Challenging<br />Sat 15:38, 17:13, 0.91, 32%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54147915849685455642014-08-30T18:49:33.612-04:002014-08-30T18:49:33.612-04:00@Norm, I know! I was kicking myself after the fact...@Norm, I know! I was kicking myself after the fact for missing the talus thingy! I guess 25 years in the field wasn't enough. Trouble was, at the time, I was picturing the FTD logo, so thinking calcaneus instead of talus. Major facepalm when I looked at the images later on.<br /><br />So bottom line, I'm blaming it on merchandising, gonna talk to those truth in advertising johnnies about it.Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74810985233403678512014-08-30T18:23:46.698-04:002014-08-30T18:23:46.698-04:00Hi, OISK. Today I'm posting later than you an...Hi, OISK. Today I'm posting later than you and find myself totally agreeing with you, as you so often do with me. I HATED THIS PUZZLE and didn't finish. Left it unfinished until I came home this evening, thinking that maybe things would come to me later in the day. But TONELOC (huh???), TALARIA, MOZILLA and FUJITSU are not things that are going to come to me. Not in the a.m. Not in the p.m., either. <br /> A big problem was A TOI or A MOI instead of A LUI. That left me with Z---OIL (never heard of ZZZQUIL, though I have heard of NYQUIL) and right above it either <br />A---TUE or A---MUE. So now I can't solve either the NW or the SW. Sigh. I feel no disappointment with myself for not knowing this trivia -- only irritation with myself for spending as much time as I did on this. Nancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64225360552425024532014-08-30T17:51:48.153-04:002014-08-30T17:51:48.153-04:00This was way easier than yesterday! I enjoyed it d...This was way easier than yesterday! I enjoyed it despite the generational pitfalls..aaaahhh Vaporub. I could eat some! I got stuck on PAPAS. So annoying when you slap your forehead over ISSUE.Hartley70noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73057879891265666012014-08-30T17:39:32.759-04:002014-08-30T17:39:32.759-04:00I want to speak up for the TALARIA/TONELOC cross. ...I want to speak up for the TALARIA/TONELOC cross. As much as I hate rapper names as answers, I have to love crossing one with a classics reference. Odds are you know one if not the other. And, you ought to get the L from talus in any event.Normhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10032302346488486116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47666399045020097142014-08-30T17:36:43.872-04:002014-08-30T17:36:43.872-04:00p.p.s.s.
I forgot to mention the primo kind of sym...p.p.s.s.<br />I forgot to mention the primo kind of symmetry that this puz is sporting. Spin it 90, 180, or 270 degrees. Grid layout remains the same. Even more importantly, as you spin it, the six U's (little darlins) in the puz all refuse to fly off like pieces of pepperoni. Elegant. Those in the know call this TRIP-LEX symmetry. U learn so much, here.<br /><br />OK. So even plugging a new puz elsewhere is startin to annoy some folks. Here's what M&A's gonna do to help facilitate a no-gripe-left-behind info distribution system: from now on, when a new runtpuz is available, he will simply park a **Gruntz** flag, at the bottom of a comment. Just go to runtpuz.org or runtpuz.blogspot.com, to dredge it up. Simple. Painless. Surreptitious. No one gets hurt. No crabon footprint.<br />(Gruntz = Go to RUNTpuZ, btw.)<br /><br />Peace on Earth, Good will toward sneaky indy puzs.<br /><br />M&A<br /><br />**Gruntz**<br /><br />M and Alsonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-247806974657976782014-08-30T17:34:36.639-04:002014-08-30T17:34:36.639-04:00@Anon 10:33 - You know what they say, don't le...@Anon 10:33 - You know what they say, don't let the door hit you in the ass. Can't speak for anyone else here, but I'm getting pretty sick of you.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68765711083293141062014-08-30T17:33:51.498-04:002014-08-30T17:33:51.498-04:00Still have my aol address, and by the way, you mig...Still have my aol address, and by the way, you might want to get off my lawn!Hartley70noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38718013488306375922014-08-30T17:31:33.718-04:002014-08-30T17:31:33.718-04:00I'm late to the party here - I actually have a...I'm late to the party here - I actually have a life! Started the puzzle early, but had to come back to it later in the day.<br /><br />I saw the by-line and knew to expect rappers and computer talk. MOZILLA, indeed!<br /><br />I finished a lot of this puzzle before going for Googling help - a lot of it was just to try out some answers to see if they fit - and they mostly did.<br /><br />I really appreciated learning TALARIA today - I will definitely name-drop that at cocktail parties!<br /><br />It also never occurred to me that TRIPLEX might be TRIPLE-X! I envisioned older "palace" theaters trying to convert their graciously large spaces into three substandard screening rooms. So sad!<br /><br />Arlenehttp://www.listeningclosely.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10811732936164477322014-08-30T16:00:39.803-04:002014-08-30T16:00:39.803-04:00@Tita - Rex long ago stated that he skips anonymic...@Tita - Rex long ago stated that he skips anonymice. Before that he mentioned that he would try to think of them as one person. Based on the PPP incident and his post, I don't think he much follows the commentariat anymore.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23080943248852522962014-08-30T15:48:07.075-04:002014-08-30T15:48:07.075-04:00@Anoa - mind if I coin the label "RoC" -...@Anoa - mind if I coin the label "RoC" - "Rapper of Convenience", based on your PoC term?<br />There is a nugget of truth in @NCAPrez's point - rapper's names, while on the one hand ought to appeal to us wordies because of their 'playfulness' with the language...in fact, can be looked at as a desperate grab for a handful of letters that really have no business being grouped together. <br /><br />@Gill - your birthday present story the other day was awesome. And your AZO boots story today - ahem - enlightening!<br /><br />Do we think the ANONYMice realize that Rex skips anonymous posts?<br />DO we think that Rex skips anonymous posts?Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88236985334895122452014-08-30T15:33:20.516-04:002014-08-30T15:33:20.516-04:00@ Steve J - Indeed, it is the clueing. Altho ... ...@ Steve J - Indeed, it is the clueing. Altho ... oh, never mind. On to Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!Maruchkanoreply@blogger.com