tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post8901218174327050912..comments2024-03-18T21:42:52.345-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Michael of "Superbad" / THU 8-25-11 / Harold of the Clinton White House / Lepidopterist's tool / Patty Hearst alias / Tennis great born in SerbiaRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16226377095328721372011-10-02T11:53:35.559-04:002011-10-02T11:53:35.559-04:00Would've been a lot easier if the syndicated v...Would've been a lot easier if the syndicated version I got had included the circles!ocozzienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77439632793154297652011-10-02T02:02:09.982-04:002011-10-02T02:02:09.982-04:00akpeds
Always feel like I'm the last one in t...akpeds<br /><br />Always feel like I'm the last one in the country to do the puzzle! But, I'd like the constructors to know that a woman in Alaska was riding her bike around in the 45 degree weather 10/1 singing, "She's A Lady", thanks to their efforts. It is a very persistent little song and it may be several days before I can make it stop.<br />Almost had a French Natick in NW where compere (sorry I can't put in accent) crossed French affair. Got emcee totally from crosses and just stared at it. Huh? That's not a French word! So I learned something. <br />Thanks to andrea/acme for very clever writeup!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73019073111378660412011-09-30T11:56:12.943-04:002011-09-30T11:56:12.943-04:00@pauer - Wow! I'm always tickled to see const...@pauer - Wow! I'm always tickled to see constructors share their thoughts here, but this is the first time I've seen one bounce into syndi-land. Thanks, and congrats on the recent marriage!Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675331024091722316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38107122212407585382011-09-30T08:18:57.979-04:002011-09-30T08:18:57.979-04:00Thanks for the comments from syndication land. It&...Thanks for the comments from syndication land. It's always interesting to see what people do and don't know. Hopefully, learning a few things isn't *too* painful - I certainly learn stuff by working with people like Francis (who is a super-genius) and by looking things up to write the clues. Generally, I find Thursdays to be too easy, so I try to make mine a little too hard to balance out the universe. Until next time!pauerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04459037089749874180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54418741489697984062011-09-30T07:31:16.212-04:002011-09-30T07:31:16.212-04:00@Anon 7:03: Here's a definition from About.com...@Anon 7:03: Here's a definition from About.com: <br /><br />Ease is to draw the fibers of fabric closer together than they were woven or originally manufactured. This is usually achieved with machine basting. When easing in fabric, no tucks or gathers are made in the fabric.<br /> <br />The amount of ease built in to a pattern refers to the amount of space available form the body measurements to the actual garment.JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90157098726626431082011-09-30T07:03:51.874-04:002011-09-30T07:03:51.874-04:00Spacecraft again. Wanted to correct an inaccuracy ...Spacecraft again. Wanted to correct an inaccuracy in post of 2:04; that is, the NYT puzzle appears in the Las Vegas SUN, which is packaged with--but separate from--the LVRJ. The Sun was also pink.<br /> And now to Deb: just wanted to say that I was thoroughly immersed in the whole MAD thing; or to put it another way, I had one grunch but the eggplant over there. And we must pause here, hat in hand, and give homage to the late, great, incomparable Don Martin. Everybody ready?<br /><br /> <br /><br />Back to the rather dull present. It is possible to miss that connection, "mad people"=EDS, because I missed it. Sometimes, I guess, our brains are caught in the right-turn-only lane when we're supposed to go straight (one reason I no longer drive!).<br /> Anyway, I do enjoy these most of the time, having cut my eye teeth on Mr. Shortz's wit with a one-time subscription to GAMES Magazine. I still wish I could make sense of "tailor's allowances" = EASES. Can't even find anything in Google to make THAT connection.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11467405876172646892011-09-30T03:57:24.910-04:002011-09-30T03:57:24.910-04:00@Anonymous 2:04 - I was born in '57, but "...@Anonymous 2:04 - I was born in '57, but "Say SISI" rang a bell for me (barely audible because I'm practically deaf); Almond Roca is VERY familiar to me; and EDS for "Mad people" is such a gimme due to remembering Alfred Newman and Mad Magazine that I can't believe you - being of a much more likely age to recall Mad magazine than I - missed it! <br /><br />My guess is you're relatively new to the Shortz era NYT Crossword or perhaps more enamored of his stodgy predecessor's style. Or very possibly, just new to the puzzle altogether - in which case, I urge you to stick with it, because once you tumble to the ways Mr. Shortz likes to toy with us, you'll feel ever so full of yourself when you can rise to the occasion.<br /><br />BTW, @acme, if you happen to ever run across this: I don't mean to give Will full credit for each and every puzzle, but I absolutely give him credit for changing the gold standard of puzzles into one that is accessible to more than just stodgy professorial types. I offered a very-gently used copy of a book of Maleska era puzzles on one of Rex's FB posts and got NO takers. I think I even offered to pay postage!Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675331024091722316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58055216351874272192011-09-30T02:04:26.149-04:002011-09-30T02:04:26.149-04:00Wow. Easy-medium? Not for me! I needed a ton of Go...Wow. Easy-medium? Not for me! I needed a ton of Google help, and I still totally don't understand the clue for 30a EASES: Tailor's allowances? HUH???<br /> As a Syndi-solver, I found this puzzle in the 9/29 Las Vegas Review-Journal, which today was printed (pretty) in pink, but that homage to breast cancer awareness didn't slow me down; the glut of massively-obscure entries did. "Say SISI," a 1940 hit??? Come on. I was born in 1940! I'd say that was really reaching. Never heard of almond--or any other kind of nut--ROCA. And "mad people" for EDS: really, how is anyone expected to get that?<br /> Now we get to the DRECK that passes as fill: HUR (partials are awful), DIPL, ASSN, RYAS, TSK (might be OK if doubled).<br /> Sorry guys, but for the ol' Spacecraft, this one was a rather unpleasant and unrewarding slog. I await a better tomorrow. CIAO.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77551317847430873442011-09-29T18:49:42.786-04:002011-09-29T18:49:42.786-04:00Bogged down for a long time in the SE corner becau...Bogged down for a long time in the SE corner because I wanted 52a Fair to be sosO, which I thought was pretty clever and sure to be right. Finally had my "Oh, not THAT kind of fair" moment, EXPO went in and the whole corner came into focus. Love how that happens.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84158329155602592302011-09-29T16:36:30.947-04:002011-09-29T16:36:30.947-04:00(syndimacation)
First of all, that's Peter Ga...(syndimacation)<br /><br />First of all, that's Peter Gammons on the $20.<br /><br />Second, pyramids are most efficiently constructed from the bottom up. I found it unsettling having to start from the top.<br /><br />Shouts out to J.T. SNOW and TY COBB. <br /><br />Shout out to the Red Sox at 24a. No 48d popping in bean town last night. Wow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12288678749708949182011-08-25T22:18:45.915-04:002011-08-25T22:18:45.915-04:00I couldn't get anything in the NW beyond AMOUR...I couldn't get anything in the NW beyond AMOUR and NORAS, so I went to Minnesota (no, not a shout out to our guest blogger) and put in OLDIE and DOT/DIT right away. So what kind of pyramid was -O-D? Obviously, a <b>word</b> pyramid! That kind of slowed me down, but it got fixed easily enough.william e embanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-947047315510504822011-08-25T22:09:52.330-04:002011-08-25T22:09:52.330-04:00@ pauer,I had to look up plotz...interesting:) N...@ pauer,I had to look up plotz...interesting:) Now, I'm ready for you if you ever stick it in a puzzle...<br /><br />@sanfranman, I for one conduct research in the unreal world...or may be it just feels that way at times...<br /><br />@acme, still resisting the snow cone look up. I'm feeling like Jane EYRE. Those people at Urban Dictionnary are probably wondering what's going on today...I might save it till tomorrow.foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43727051411939159692011-08-25T20:40:27.808-04:002011-08-25T20:40:27.808-04:00Loved the puzzle & adore Cobb salad.
Thanks fo...Loved the puzzle & adore Cobb salad.<br />Thanks for the great writeup Andrea<br />(I sat to your left @ Lollapuzzoola)<br />RheaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89794130002123184402011-08-25T17:07:11.160-04:002011-08-25T17:07:11.160-04:00Thanks for all the nice comments about our latest ...Thanks for all the nice comments about our latest word baby. This one came together pretty fast, as I recall; since we submitted it (back on 1/17/11) the grid went through a minor change from DANL to DIPL (no doubt because of WEEN). It was tough to find any foods that worked in this formation at all, much less find a set that also formed a meal or belonged to different food groups or something. And even though it seems like the number of theme squares is low (36), that's actually the number of the triple-checked squares; if you count every Across and Down that shares a letter with one of the pyramids, there are 188 theme squares.<br /><br />If I had to be critical, I'd say the grid's too closed off in the middle (but we had to isolate the pyramids!) and pyramids have three dimensions while these formations of circles (or shaded squares) are merely 2-D triangles (Charlatans!).<br /><br />Thanks to Francis for working with me on this, to Will for selecting and improving it, and to Andrea for giving it such an amusing write-up! I would've plotzed, if I did that sort of thing.pauerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04459037089749874180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27655301509941444542011-08-25T16:56:09.545-04:002011-08-25T16:56:09.545-04:00@Bob Lundegaard,
Ha! You're right! Pelle is ...@Bob Lundegaard,<br />Ha! You're right! Pelle is Danish Danish Danish! I should have gotten that as a tie in to SWEET ROLL!<br /><br />I am coming back to Minneapolis for my 35tth highschool reunion in September and will try and get my card renewed! But you are right, not a real gopher (parents had moved there from NY when I was about 9)<br /><br />But to be corrected by no less than the film critic of the Mpls Star and tribune whom the Cohen brothers named their lead character in "Fargo" after, who ALSO plays Scrabble, pleases me to no end!!!<br /><br />(Somewhere, right now, I suspect Rex is eating something on a stick!)<br /><br />And speaking of being corrected, it must be a good day when all @evil doug can chide me on is the TROLLEY shout out! We indeed have beautiful trolleys here along Market Street (I was on the one from Milano last night and all the signage is still in Italiano!)<br />But on second thought, I think this TROLLEYCAR reference was a secret shout out from Patrick to his fiancee, awaiting him in St. Louis!<br />CLANGCLANGCLANG!<br /><br />@Sanfranman<br />I'm glad that's why there were no responses to the blog last night! I thought it was bec Rex was gone!<br />And I guess this was harder than I thought, as I didn't know Compere, arc welding, "Say SISI" (I almost posted a video of Captain Kangaroo singing it). And I understand TANiA/EDiE might have been tough, but totally inferrable, right?<br /><br />As for the blind poodle story, you are barking up the wrong tree...I have to wait till either BLIND, POODLE, RAITT is in the puzzle again! Altho I ramble, I do try to keep it tied to the puzzle! ;)<br /><br />@Wade<br />You crack me up...can't wait till YOU sub-blog!<br />I got lucky that it was a puzzle I loved!andrea croatian michaelsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24227801444640814482011-08-25T16:54:44.706-04:002011-08-25T16:54:44.706-04:00Surprised at all the people calling this easy, and...Surprised at all the people calling this easy, and particularly at those calling it too easy for a Thursday. I thought this was one of the harder Thursdays in quite a while, because of a lot of proper names and tough, tough cluing.<br /><br />Liked it quite a bit, but found it very tough.Matthew G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07957320012395569238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55287711844838580232011-08-25T16:39:18.332-04:002011-08-25T16:39:18.332-04:00fine Tues/Weds puzzle -- too bad its Thursdayfine Tues/Weds puzzle -- too bad its Thursdaylong suffering mets fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16389782656125053632011-08-25T16:03:29.311-04:002011-08-25T16:03:29.311-04:00Fun write up by ACME. I too now want to hear the ...Fun write up by ACME. I too now want to hear the "blind dog" story. Sounds like the title of a country song or a stage name for a blues singer.<br /><br />Speaking of aliases, Patty Hearst's Symbionese Liberation Army nom de guerre of TANIA brought back memories too. And had me wondering about its leader, Donald DeFreeze a/k/a Field Marshall Cinque (pronounced, IIRC, "sin Q") and whether the Hearst clue led Patrick and Francis to think of the clue for 39D Otto - cinque. Or did that come first and led them to the Hearst clue/ans?<br /><br />Speaking of tweaks, with a bit of a change in the clunky DIPL, 61A could have been WEED and clued to Hearst's boyfriend at the time of her kidnapping from her Berkley home, Steven Weed.<br /><br />Part of the SLA's ransom demands included distibution of free food. A huge pile of it. Valued somewhere between 4 and 400 Mil worth. Over 100,000 bags of groceries were distributed in a 4 county area over 2 months in 1974. Would it have stacked in a pyramid?<br /><br />@Kurt--nice defensive save indeed.Nighthawkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11898505137434147165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33181543943961465292011-08-25T15:34:10.983-04:002011-08-25T15:34:10.983-04:00P.P.S.S. Iconic SNO(W)CONE pic. Includes the rare...P.P.S.S. Iconic SNO(W)CONE pic. Includes the rarely photographed SNO(W)CAT. Lotta crosswordese goin' down, in that there pic.<br /><br />@ACME: Kinda glad I did the Urban Dictionary lookup. Thanx for the tip. Learned all about SnorgTees.<br /><br />M&AFinal Silver Bulletnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83871812950897532412011-08-25T15:33:44.283-04:002011-08-25T15:33:44.283-04:00Andrea ACME, that is to say, you
Absolutely Clever...Andrea ACME, that is to say, you<br />Absolutely Clever Marvelous Entertainer,<br />Thanks for a great write up! I love your regular contributions to the blog and your ability to provide relevant pseudonyms. Keep 'em coming, and thanks again.DBGeezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81471653591099246782011-08-25T15:27:50.245-04:002011-08-25T15:27:50.245-04:00Midday 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 />Thu 16:50, 19:12, 0.88, 29%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Thu 9:47, 9:22, 1.04, 67%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />I'm afraid that today's stats are going to be badly skewed because the online interface was not working last evening (at least it wasn't when I tried to solve the puzzle at about midnight Pacific time). In fact, when I went to solve the puzzle last night, there were no stats at all for this puzzle on the NYT Crossword page. Something tells me that many of the usual early birds downloaded the puzzle to solve in Across Lite on their computers when they realized that they couldn't solve it online. That's what I did. I'm guessing that the early birds are also skewed toward the faster solvers. So while there are some of the usual speed-solvers at the top of the "Fastest" list, many are missing. Ah, the subtle complexities of conducting research in a real-world setting. C'est la vie.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62500602853408985462011-08-25T15:19:44.043-04:002011-08-25T15:19:44.043-04:00I am sick of people maligning the Cobb Salad. I de...I am sick of people maligning the Cobb Salad. I defy anyone here to come up with a two thousand calorie meal that lets you imagine you have stuck to your diet.Tobias Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14828873893205954337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78898987729056931142011-08-25T14:57:17.653-04:002011-08-25T14:57:17.653-04:00@acme -- radiant writeup!
@lindsay -- you made me...@acme -- radiant writeup!<br /><br />@lindsay -- you made me laugh.<br /><br />SHESALADY is kind of cool, for embedded in it is HESALAD...Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60442818767940230612011-08-25T14:35:48.308-04:002011-08-25T14:35:48.308-04:00Fun puzzle. Appropriately challenging for my cat-s...Fun puzzle. Appropriately challenging for my cat-sized brain. My 2 cents: I assumed mad men was e.g. for emotionally disturbed. Editors? Hmm.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10023122918540675422011-08-25T14:14:09.305-04:002011-08-25T14:14:09.305-04:00Tooled along happily. RAITT a gimme. My age. I ...Tooled along happily. RAITT a gimme. My age. I stumbled on ICKES because thinking of FDR administration Ickes. <br /><br /> Alas, bogged down in SE. Could not kick train out of my head. Erased WEEP. Should have Googled Von Sydow as he's not in my Maltin.<br /><br />Thanks Andrea for a ride that rang the bell.Sparkynoreply@blogger.com