tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post855863738594588771..comments2024-03-19T09:23:07.223-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Milquetoast of old comics / FRI 2-18-11 / Bird in Sean O'Casey title / Unseen Mork & Mindy character / Common praenomen Roman emperorsRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34016887299399453852011-03-25T20:58:40.072-04:002011-03-25T20:58:40.072-04:00Gee, I thought "Soros" and "Greco&q...Gee, I thought "Soros" and "Greco" were the two big gimmes in the puzzle, along with n'est ce pas. Still couldn't get the NE till last though, because I kept trying to make some kind of "slob" out of 10 down, as I had irritable instead of irritated for 37 across.rawcernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78427549754499270542011-03-25T17:27:08.429-04:002011-03-25T17:27:08.429-04:00This was nice one. The SW fell immediately, and t...This was nice one. The SW fell immediately, and the NW soon thereafter. I had a little trouble with the SE, and the NE was a bear. I got GRECO for Roman leader? right away, and LEECHES as well, but after adding SINGE I was stuck for a long time. Finally, after much experimentation, got MADE HASTE and then the rest of the grid fell into place.<br /><br />I liked SPORTSFAN for game animal? Of course I thought of DOG and CAT but neither made sense. <br /><br />Medium for a Friday, but I agree with Rex that some of it was easy, and some of it more challenging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20755589327555772302011-03-25T16:38:57.744-04:002011-03-25T16:38:57.744-04:00I think some of PB's cluing is almost diabolic...I think some of PB's cluing is almost diabolic. I like diabolic -it makes the "aha moments" that much more satisfying when the answers finally come into view.<br /><br />Last letter in was a total guess, the "t" in STET/AEROSTAT. Despite the lucky guess I finished with one error because I mispelled FANTAcIST. Still had fun though, with a lot of muttering to myself along the way.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60987245809777510612011-03-25T13:41:10.809-04:002011-03-25T13:41:10.809-04:00From syndcity: great puzzle IMHO as it appears tha...From syndcity: great puzzle IMHO as it appears that all those who commented had problems with different sectors of it. For me, the entire west coast was Mondayish, especially the NW, the NE was problematic but doable but the SE led to a DNF (NEON TETRA, OSTER, wha?). But a really enjoyable DNF! Thanks, PB.Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67083850336587316002011-03-25T09:36:59.003-04:002011-03-25T09:36:59.003-04:00Normand Houle
N'est-ce pas (no cédille under ...Normand Houle<br /><br />N'est-ce pas (no cédille under the c) was of course a gimme for a frenchie. I have to say I had quite a few aha moments, even getting HAVEAGOAT from just the H from GHANA (married to an african lady thatwas a GIMME/her). Greco roman wrestling, art, etc, didn't seem too hard to find. I really loved the 4+ letters in all words style and have to say that I found it to be a good effort by PB. No idea on neontetra, though ... :)<br /><br />NormAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78192701821334571352011-02-19T13:31:33.143-05:002011-02-19T13:31:33.143-05:00Normally I agree w Rex, but I have to say I loved ...Normally I agree w Rex, but I have to say I loved this puzzle, especially after solving it and just looking at the grid. One great answer after another...just lovely. Except maybe HAVE A GOAT, which is hilarious.<br /><br />I would have found this a challenging Saturday, just for the SE corner. The SE corner's clues were so far off my wavelength, I actually solved it one letter at a time, as if I was constructing it. Reason: I had inked in ASTAIRE at 38-D. Fortunately, the AS_A__E was correct.<br /><br />Other answers of note: 12d [Like early life]. Had O_E_E__ED and almost wrote OPENENDED...thought, hmm that's a cool clue/answer.<br /><br />Annoying write-over on the second A of CASPAR, since after _ASP_R I presumed it was the friendly ghost. I still thought it was the friendly ghost until coming to this blog (relieved that I didn't misremember the spelling of CASPER.)<br /><br />I always forget how to spell "N'est ce pas" me: "NE CE EST PAS"? Lovely answer, however. <br /><br />Again, fun, fun puzzle.cody.riggshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05883012611419987246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58013598623066103682011-02-19T10:30:29.093-05:002011-02-19T10:30:29.093-05:00i did my master's thesis on foraminifera, a on...i did my master's thesis on foraminifera, a one-celled organism (the term was used interchangeably with single-celled). I don't get the fuss either.<br /><br />Great puzzle.hazelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627015904603641109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31672694476600036702011-02-18T23:34:51.315-05:002011-02-18T23:34:51.315-05:00Another DNF!!!! I always feel triumphant when I b...Another DNF!!!! I always feel triumphant when I breeze through one that REX deems Medium-Challenging, and just a tiny bit crestfallen when one I struggle with is deemed Medium or Easy!<br /><br />My one consolation - HAVE A GOAT...<br /><br />Reading through the comments, wondering how I possibly missed that answer - wah?? Don't remember it at all...<br /><br />Oh - HAVE A GO AT...!<br />I much prefer the alternate parsing!!!!!<br /><br />Thanks all for putting a smile on my face as I get ready to print Saturday...!Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56096664507789754892011-02-18T22:14:16.314-05:002011-02-18T22:14:16.314-05:00i just wanted to share that i thought the NE and S...i just wanted to share that i thought the NE and SW were easiest... got those filled in off the bat. struggled most with NW which you thought was the easiest. i guess that is what makes these fun.the chili macnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43838301417756405692011-02-18T22:07:04.523-05:002011-02-18T22:07:04.523-05:00I got off to a bad start by writing in Bryan inste...I got off to a bad start by writing in Bryan instead of Nader, but after that this must have been my fastest Friday ever. I had to look up neon tetra when I was done, though.michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4350271457338901442011-02-18T22:01:21.659-05:002011-02-18T22:01:21.659-05:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 7/30/2009 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 6:53, 6:54, 1.00, 52%, Medium<br />Tue 7:28, 8:56, 0.84, 6%, Easy<br />Wed 13:28, 11:47, 1.14, 82%, Challenging<br />Thu 20:13, 19:07, 1.06, 70%, Medium-Challenging<br />Fri 20:55, 26:12, 0.80, 12%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:47, 3:41, 1.03, 62%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:02, 4:35, 0.88, 11%, Easy<br />Wed 6:34, 5:48, 1.13, 82%, Challenging<br />Thu 9:16, 9:12, 1.01, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br />Fri 9:48, 12:51, 0.76, 10%, Easysanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77609514617793501212011-02-18T20:52:46.545-05:002011-02-18T20:52:46.545-05:00Wow, this was hard for me, and like a few of you, ...Wow, this was hard for me, and like a few of you, I actually found the NE to be the easiest quadrant. <br /><br />The middle of the puzzle gave me the hardest time.<br /><br />DNF for me (practice makes perfect - at least that's what I keep telling myself.)JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55523880481304113792011-02-18T20:10:34.427-05:002011-02-18T20:10:34.427-05:00Stared at this one for a long time but finally got...Stared at this one for a long time but finally got going. NE the last to fall. Hand up for Irritable (which had be looking for some sort of SLOB for a disorderly sort) a more accurate answer IMO than Irritated. Tagalog and Orson a Natick for me ....TimJimnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71503401303127572912011-02-18T19:50:23.336-05:002011-02-18T19:50:23.336-05:00Teachers say that students minds are blank slates....Teachers say that students minds are blank slates. That's mostly how I have heard that phrase in use. Or also more generally, young impressionable people have minds that are blank slates. Maybe in the Internet age some other metaphor would be more natural. Even though kids minds are crammed with Internet impressions, they are probably still as impressionable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42201467663100208862011-02-18T19:34:40.111-05:002011-02-18T19:34:40.111-05:00Mr. Parker, you have to go see some plays. I reme...Mr. Parker, you have to go see some plays. I remember when "Gypsy" snowed you. Now, when of the greatest Irish plays of all time, "Juno and the Paycock" leaves you guessing. You are much, much smarter than I, but this is a field where more knowledge would help you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49082036166081443292011-02-18T19:31:37.748-05:002011-02-18T19:31:37.748-05:00Wow, I thought the NW was the toughest by far. Bu...Wow, I thought the NW was the toughest by far. But as Rex always says, one man's WTF is another's gimme.Doc Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12540112168511893896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22725119792922705762011-02-18T18:00:50.588-05:002011-02-18T18:00:50.588-05:00The puzzle was pretty easy for me until I got to t...The puzzle was pretty easy for me until I got to the NW. Total HALT there. BTW, before HALT I had Hush and, yes, Hash as in the dish you'd get at a truck "stop." Oh my!<br /><br />Too busy to address my problem so I Googled to get PAYCOCK and then zipped through that pesky corner. <br /><br />HAVEAGOAT is my favorite answer either way you parse it. <br /><br />Thanks, Patrick!johohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708487230515532492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53370073981445228152011-02-18T16:04:04.895-05:002011-02-18T16:04:04.895-05:00Destroyed the northern half of this puzzle, but th...Destroyed the northern half of this puzzle, but the rest was just too much for me. I eventually got the SW with some struggling, especially since it took forever to get TAGALOGS and SLATE. To be honest, I've never heard of a Blank SLATE. I've heard of a fresh one, a clean one, and a new one. Never in my life have I heard anyone say that I needed a Blank SLATE to start out on though. Oh well.<br /><br />I really liked TESLA COIL and got that just from the TA. Also liked BILATERAL and I think MADE HASTE and ANARCHIST were my favorites. The clues for the NE I thought were much more enjoyable than many of you for whatever reason.<br /><br />On to Saturday, where I will undoubtedly have less luck than I did today.Kendallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04176353196193935474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87630258966266817532011-02-18T15:59:51.912-05:002011-02-18T15:59:51.912-05:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/2009 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 20:39, 26:12, 0.79, 12%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Fri 10:14, 12:51, 0.80, 16%, Easy<br /><br />My solving experience often coincides with Rex's (albeit at a much, much slower pace). But today, we were opposites. As always, I started in the NW, but in spite of getting several of the downs, I couldn't come up with the acrosses (part of the problem was that I had LargO for LENTO ... 5 letters for musically slow is almost always one or the other and I usually seem to guess wrong). The NE is where I found my first foothold and it went down quite easily. The NW was the last to fall for me.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-206197066920303992011-02-18T15:10:23.140-05:002011-02-18T15:10:23.140-05:00@ Fanny Farmer
I was given that yucky treat twenty...@ Fanny Farmer<br />I was given that yucky treat twenty years laterI skip M-Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37175032347268987522011-02-18T15:08:35.435-05:002011-02-18T15:08:35.435-05:00@anonymous 12:37
Was it perhaps a Siamese fighting...@anonymous 12:37<br />Was it perhaps a Siamese fighting fish? Japanese don't always deserve stereotype of Asian fighter<br />@WBY O'Casey wrote way before JP Donleavey did The Ginger Man, or Brendan Behan did anything, so the drunken Irishman stereotype was hardly used up by him.I skip M-Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44149198365793303592011-02-18T15:03:02.869-05:002011-02-18T15:03:02.869-05:00Milktoast is a simple old-fashioned dish that was ...Milktoast is a simple old-fashioned dish that was commonly given to sick people.<br />It fell out of fashion around the time of that cartoon quite possibly because of the negative fallout from the character involved.Fanny Farmernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30480972693883569532011-02-18T14:53:04.596-05:002011-02-18T14:53:04.596-05:00I wanted FABULIST for FANTASIST, a mistake that ga...I wanted FABULIST for FANTASIST, a mistake that gave me the F for SPORTS FAN (instead of the unknown three-letter animal I was searching for).<br /><br />Nice, in-the-language phrases, N'EST-CE PAS? A fun Friday.Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681342234536407419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89116419141769996162011-02-18T14:52:28.324-05:002011-02-18T14:52:28.324-05:00I found this puzzle delightfully clever and diffic...I found this puzzle delightfully clever and difficult at the same time. How can you not like fresh entries like GOAL POST, HAVE A GO AT, AT ANY RATE, BACK SPACE, BILATERAL, ANASTASIA, CASHES OUT, MADE HASTE and ONE-CELLED? I'll take these any day over obscure trivia.<br />I stared at the blank squares for the longest of time and was unable to get anything going. Luckily I persevered got the NE corner completed and that gave me the confidence to go on. Next fell the SW corner.<br />The NW was next. I had SOUP instead of SOAP and TADA instead of TATA. So I could not see AT ANY RATE. But the rest was OK.<br />The SE corner was tough. Had SPORTSMAN instead of SPORTS FAN. Wanted MENTALIST in 49A ABOMINATE in 54A and ASTAIRE in 38D. So you can imagine the mish-mash I got into.<br />But I loved the puzzle overall and did it without any google help. Many difficult clues but a lot of them were in the end "gettable" even for a non-pro like me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42110017885156756972011-02-18T13:55:02.778-05:002011-02-18T13:55:02.778-05:00@Ayn I'd be happier if a Green candidate had w...@Ayn I'd be happier if a Green candidate had won.treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16342530371183121220noreply@blogger.com