tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8459739774962232398..comments2024-03-28T15:13:08.509-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Volga tributary / FRI 1-6-12 / 2010 Ke$ha chart-topper with creatively spelled five-word title / 2005 horror sequel / 1990s series originally set in year 2193Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36688528618194585642012-02-19T06:24:53.666-05:002012-02-19T06:24:53.666-05:00I have no problem with "WeRWhoWeR" as a ...I have no problem with "WeRWhoWeR" as a clue. I had never heard of the song, but still managed to work it out from the crosses once I figured out the gimmick. No less fair than "When 2 ___ Love" as a clue for RIN.<br /><br />The demographics for crosswords may skew a little old, but MarioKart is pretty common knowledge if you ask me. Funny how no one complains about obscure Dickens characters, but a video game that is advertised regularly on TV is off limits?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51801150907536047202012-02-10T21:20:11.251-05:002012-02-10T21:20:11.251-05:00@jadag88 - GO AT = "Attack".
(What'...@jadag88 - GO AT = "Attack".<br /><br />(What's up with all the spamsters, e.g. @Russell R. Gross, here lately?)Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55453436016368719712012-02-10T21:00:15.420-05:002012-02-10T21:00:15.420-05:00So glad to know that you had the same problems we ...So glad to know that you had the same problems we did, Rex. While we did get it correct in the puzzle, I still do not understand how GOAT means attack. Can any of you explain that?jadag88https://www.blogger.com/profile/01512634841574656255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14786890433600369892012-02-10T20:43:28.050-05:002012-02-10T20:43:28.050-05:00I think other web site proprietors should take thi...<b>I think other web site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and great user friendly style and design, as well as the content. You're an expert in this topic!</b><br><a href="https://sites.google.com/a/wheretobuy.shopbestbuy.snqc.net/where-to-buy-spray-air-fresheners-healthpersonalcare-deals/buy-new---212-by-carolina-herrera-edt-spray-3-4-oz-tester---162991" rel="nofollow">New - 212 by Carolina Herrera EDT SPRAY 3.4 OZ *TESTER - 162991</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77522220826295396672012-02-10T20:15:38.635-05:002012-02-10T20:15:38.635-05:00Misery loves company and today I have a lot of com...Misery loves company and today I have a lot of company (well, 5 weeks ago and today). Loved seeing "Do a driver's no-no" to clue TEXT - really people, you cannot do both at the samw time!<br /><br />Still wondering why I have to put my captcha in twice to get published - anybody?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17271360564622298322012-02-10T18:29:17.817-05:002012-02-10T18:29:17.817-05:00@spacecraft - agree about the Lane shoutout
A hor...@spacecraft - agree about the Lane shoutout<br /><br />A horrendous Friday. Could only get half the grid without my Google buddy. I was so happy to get the MARIOcART until I came here. NW and SW were both a mystery to me. <br /><br />Even with Google, I couldn't finish. Ick.Mighty Nisdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00604834076817509735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5693638212218812042012-02-10T18:02:07.667-05:002012-02-10T18:02:07.667-05:00Not a chance this one's gettable without Googl...Not a chance this one's gettable without Googles, so no way can it be rated "easy-medium-" by a guy who didn't even solve it correctly!! I'm not even going to list all the uber-weird entries. I had trouble right off when I couldn't reconcile MALAPROP with COPPER: two answers I thought obvious but, unfortunately didn't start with the same letter at 36 d&a, respectively. So I wondered which one (!) was wrong.<br /> TIMETRAX must have been the biggest egg ever laid on TV, because I'm a sci-fi enthusiast--and I NEVER HEARD OF IT! But when the SW eventually started to fill in and PALINISM began to emerge, I thought, wow, did he really just do that?<br /> The NE was the only area I filled with no help; even though I had inroads to the SE with the gimmes LEWIS and BEGORRA, I had no hope for what comes after MARIO (there's somethi8ng besides BROS?) or that ridiculous song title that, along with DORAGS, should just be run out of town on a rail. Add to that those everyday (?????) words like WIGWAG and INHERE, and you have a fahgeddaboudit corner.<br /> Saving grace: a shoutout to the brilliant NATHAN Lane.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50931072281960401162012-02-10T16:50:27.664-05:002012-02-10T16:50:27.664-05:00A question for all of you bartenders out there: Ca...A question for all of you bartenders out there: Can you have a Happy Hour in a Blues Bar?Connie in Seattlenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1855830355079143652012-02-10T15:14:28.755-05:002012-02-10T15:14:28.755-05:00I almost naticked at SONO/LEBON (I just guessed), ...I almost naticked at SONO/LEBON (I just guessed), not at SONO/ULANOVA, because I knew ULANOVA, but not LEBON. Their were so many neat features of this puzzle, yet so many "tricky" areas, and I died in OKA which for me was the OBA. I can say that overall, I'm a fan of the seemingly fresh approach, but not of this particular final product.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38000010443913221652012-01-07T03:10:59.285-05:002012-01-07T03:10:59.285-05:00This 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 6:49, 6:50, 1.00, 52%, Medium<br />Tue 8:51, 8:52, 1.00, 56%, Medium<br />Wed 15:04, 11:50, 1.27, 94%, Challenging (9th highest Wednesday median solve time)<br />Thu 17:30, 19:00, 0.92, 40%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 28:08, 25:25, 1.11, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:49, 3:40, 1.04, 70%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:38, 4:34, 1.01, 62%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 7:35, 5:52, 1.29, 95%, Challenging (8th highest Wednesday median solve time)<br />Thu 9:06, 9:17, 0.98, 55%, Medium<br />Fri 13:39, 12:36, 1.08, 67%, Medium-Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49394039142840539352012-01-07T02:32:56.466-05:002012-01-07T02:32:56.466-05:00I skip m-w
Well, dove sono is both where am i and ...I skip m-w<br />Well, dove sono is both where am i and where are they...so even if you speak italiano it's context context context...and lots of pretty boys.<br />And yes Andrea is a man's name there...lots of fun confusion!<br />Bravo to young David for taking the criticism like a man!Andreanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61845238382396513332012-01-07T00:48:42.779-05:002012-01-07T00:48:42.779-05:00I guess I should be proud that at 69 I completed ...I guess I should be proud that at 69 I completed the puzzle correctly, despite never having heard of Ke$ha or Simon Lebon and not being a basketball fan,but this is how I learn what pop culture I know<br /><br />@ Annie D,<br />Yes, I've had that experience of proudly asking the question in Italian and then hearing a long incomprehensible answer, but sometimes Italians don't know any English. Just keep asking and using gestures until you learn. Usually they are very willing to help you figure it out. <br /><br />captcha = nutperpy — the insanity defense?I skip M-Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87458224715909219002012-01-06T23:42:52.224-05:002012-01-06T23:42:52.224-05:00"Every solver is ignorant of something."..."Every solver is ignorant of something." You said it, Rex. I really got smacked by this one, especially in the SE, which had the audacity to summon <i>multiple</i> answers in two of my weakest, most detested crossword subjects -- rap music and video games. I rarely cry foul as Naticks go, but this was flagrant.davkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09661794533403708226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7807747537338418692012-01-06T21:17:48.111-05:002012-01-06T21:17:48.111-05:00Definitely challenging for me. Had to google the S...Definitely challenging for me. Had to google the SE (should have got it, no excuse though timetrax is news to me) and had problems with the Naticks others mentioned. Pleased to have figured out werwhower. Looked at mario-art and o-a for a bit and just gave up. Ditto leb-n and s-no.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91531591183353008182012-01-06T20:52:20.280-05:002012-01-06T20:52:20.280-05:00Agree with Nancy. Awful puzzle. SOME pop culture...Agree with Nancy. Awful puzzle. SOME pop culture is OK - but not loaded like in this horror. Never heard of Foxy Lady, Lebon, don't know who Duran Duran is, never heard of Mariokart, WERWHOWEARE?? I had just about given up on the NW after struggling though the rest, and joylessly completing it. Then, "FAB" suddenly jumped into my head, and I got Jiffylube, (despite bad clue, IMHO) Maybe baby sounds like the name of a song Buddy Holly might have sung - and I was finished.<br />Then I looked at the answer, and saw I had two wrong letters. I had WERTHEWER with THE instead of WHO. Makes sense since I never heard of SAW I or II. I had SATII - a horror film about college admissions? And the EKA river seems just as likely to flow into the Volga as the OKA. <br /><br />Loved yesterday's puzzle, but this one had just too many bad crosses.OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18167375708832173232012-01-06T20:51:55.414-05:002012-01-06T20:51:55.414-05:00@fergus...not teasing the data too much, IMHO...
I...@fergus...not teasing the data too much, IMHO...<br />I think that the data, or rather, what can be inferred from it, sheds some pretty fascinating light on many facets of this particular style of fun/entertainment/mental exercise...<br /><br />There is definitely more to difficulty levels than sheer solve time - as you point out, how many DNF? that's pretty telling...How many DNFWOG? What corners were the hardest? Which words are gimmes, which had tons of writeovers...<br /><br />Rex has a gut instinct about it - his 6th sense is generally pretty accurate. There is a great deal that is quantifiable.<br />A few of us are close to being obsessed by it!<br /><br />What other elements do you think factor in?Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67448890983693076212012-01-06T20:47:51.327-05:002012-01-06T20:47:51.327-05:00DNF as is my wont with puzzles heavy in pop cultur...DNF as is my wont with puzzles heavy in pop culture. High point was PALINISM which I got off the L. It was downhill from there.<br /><br />Still can't believe INHERE is correct as wanted MARIObros and certainly didn't know who Ke$ha is, let alone any of her "works". Actually, it is probably noteworthy that 60A is clued "chart topper" and not "song".<br /><br />FWIW, learned WIGWAG as a Boy Scout. It's basically morse code where swinging a flag to your right side is a dot, and to the left side is a dash. Not sure about the merit badge, 'tho.<br /><br />Could only think of "Naughty Lady of Shady Lane", so NE was hard to come until I gave up vioLa for CELLO.<br /><br />BEGORRAh is (almost) always spelled with an H at the end, otherwise, it's a var. As pointed out by @R_C, the PATINA in question is caused by oxidation of copper, thus the green PATINA is the result, not the cause.<br /><br />Like others had "It's so Easy" at first... NOT.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55467326889853480722012-01-06T20:41:26.309-05:002012-01-06T20:41:26.309-05:00Double FFs double LLs, WWWWs and XXXs, MAYBE BABY,...Double FFs double LLs, WWWWs and XXXs, MAYBE BABY, paTINa over aTINgle, BeBops, FlatFeet, tall TALE, TimeTrax: very alliterative, assonant, fun. Most fun = Palinism! <br />Like many others, had SOLO; like ACM, had MARIOsART. Other errors were fun to sort out (Waffle, WIGgle,...), UNRAVELED and JUMPER took a while (had caMPER). Also had Pest for PAIN. Speaking of pests, have seen plenty of NO-PEST strips in the past, but where? gas station restrooms in the southeastern US? the elementary school cafeteria?SeattleSunsetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7951625687572926852012-01-06T20:17:44.880-05:002012-01-06T20:17:44.880-05:00I know it's late, but had to add my two cents....I know it's late, but had to add my two cents.<br /><br />Brutally Challenging! The SW took me forever but I finally finished the puzzle with one error - the predictable Universal Natick. I went with MARIO'SART and thought it had a reasonable shot. Disappointed? Not at all. To survive this baby, Google-free (as is my wont), counts as a win.Chip Hiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11944056030047563287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65239882515666700782012-01-06T19:58:25.574-05:002012-01-06T19:58:25.574-05:00Maybe there is a proxy for DNFs? I'm quite unf...Maybe there is a proxy for DNFs? I'm quite unfamiliar with the workings of AL (though I have met Mr. Happy Pencil a couple of times), but I wonder whether a solver can register as finished by correcting errors in frustration -- like at maybe twice the median solve time, or at AL's time limit, if there is one? And those would effectively be DNFs? Maybe I'm thinking of teasing the data too much?fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18546604241400344622012-01-06T19:52:36.368-05:002012-01-06T19:52:36.368-05:00Thanks again, everyone, for all the comments and s...Thanks again, everyone, for all the comments and suggestions.David Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02037243171142078417noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77554835692213607382012-01-06T16:55:51.783-05:002012-01-06T16:55:51.783-05:00@jesser - We've missed you, welcome home.@jesser - We've missed you, welcome home.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78370399465117838082012-01-06T16:10:47.252-05:002012-01-06T16:10:47.252-05:00Midday 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 />Fri 28:08, 25:25, 1.11, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Fri 13:58, 12:36, 1.11, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Right you are, @Foodie ... slightly toward the Challenging end of the Medium-Challenging spectrum.<br /><br />@Fergus ... I keep track of the number of online solvers, but not DNFs, so I can't say how this one stacks up to other Fridays in that regard. The number of solvers appears to be about average for a Friday (end-of-day average = 435, current number of solvers today = 395).sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65632659544310827052012-01-06T15:54:05.328-05:002012-01-06T15:54:05.328-05:00I am predicting at least Medium Challenging from S...I am predicting at least Medium Challenging from SanFranMan. <br /><br />For me, it was impossible... Especially the SE corner. <br /><br />I went with MALAPROP in lieu of PALINISM. Interesting, they share the AL part, so that kept the wrong answer in place for a while.foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61807820349259993882012-01-06T15:30:14.105-05:002012-01-06T15:30:14.105-05:00Me three, jesser.Me three, jesser.JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.com