tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post9027157611487887030..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, Mar. 15, 2008 - David Quarfoot (BASHKIR'S CLOSE COUSIN)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7184831538408569882008-04-27T05:16:00.000-04:002008-04-27T05:16:00.000-04:00How deflating! To come here with the expectation t...How deflating! To come here with the expectation that everyone (or at least many) (or at least more than a couple) would find this fully daunting and find it rated "easy," with most agreeing. I got the east half without much difficulty, but not even google could save my bacon on the west. Completely flummoxed for the first time in a long, long time. I am, apparently (and hopefully only briefly), on the opposite side of the karmic spectrum from Rex and his smarty pants cohorts. Oh well, tomorrow's a new day...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89077291610977386842008-04-27T01:06:00.000-04:002008-04-27T01:06:00.000-04:00I have been breezing through the puzzles for the l...I have been breezing through the puzzles for the last month or so...but both Friday and Saturday stumped me. It was like hitting a brick wall.Jan Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08709096924012665773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86774605080287550422008-03-22T23:38:00.000-04:002008-03-22T23:38:00.000-04:00Meet James Ensor! A TMBG reference! Sweet!Meet James Ensor! A TMBG reference! Sweet!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78444491778779910682008-03-17T15:28:00.000-04:002008-03-17T15:28:00.000-04:00I was stumped by A1 across for the longest time, p...I was stumped by A1 across for the longest time, partially because I had the "IC" and assumed the answer was "MUSICAL". And like others, I had "ICE" in place for most of the time.Oxheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08830870013064939436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91638401971686082172008-03-16T01:40:00.000-04:002008-03-16T01:40:00.000-04:00Stuck with a BAD PEEL for the Botched salon job, a...Stuck with a BAD PEEL for the Botched salon job, and SAT BACK instead of RAN LATE. Also was tempted by GNARL for the Wind Clue that turned out to be SNAKE. Just enough to leave plenty of puzzle to mull over, which is almost as gratifying as a quick solution.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40778719361269741632008-03-16T00:21:00.000-04:002008-03-16T00:21:00.000-04:00how many westerns are titled "rio ___" for some va...how many westerns are titled "rio ___" for some value of ___? at least half a dozen, i'm guessing.<BR/><BR/>THECORE is on the short list for worst movie physics ever (trailing only the end of "superman" where supes reverses the direction of time by zipping retrograde around the earth, causing it to spin backwards on its axis). so it's notable for at least that much.<BR/><BR/>overall, i'm with you--i'd take DISACCHARIDE over ASSANTE any day. (and i could certainly stand never to see another three-letter entry which can only be clued as the first name of an actress.) but it only takes one nostalgic pop culture reference to make my day. today it was KEATONS.Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54134621811718015402008-03-16T00:18:00.000-04:002008-03-16T00:18:00.000-04:00andrea - not to mention LOSGATOS!andrea - not to mention LOSGATOS!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16256007192035887702008-03-15T22:40:00.000-04:002008-03-15T22:40:00.000-04:00Andrea: Yes, ASSante's GAY icon of a RUMP. I meant...Andrea: Yes, ASSante's GAY icon of a RUMP. I meant to include ASSante in my tableau.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41355502944677848772008-03-15T22:01:00.000-04:002008-03-15T22:01:00.000-04:00I'm always bummed I don't finish the Saturday puzz...I'm always bummed I don't finish the Saturday puzzle till Saturday night here and you've all gone on to Sunday already by the time I check in to see what you thought of GAYICON!!!!!!!!!<BR/><BR/>ACELA was just in the news, saying that Eliot only bought a cheap train ticket for Kristen instead of on the ACELA!<BR/><BR/>Otherwise that was a sort of a bitch that LOSALTOS, SANMATEO (which I tried first),MILPITAS (where I'm going tomorrow for my Scrabble tourney) all are eight letters with a T in the same place!<BR/><BR/>I, too, had ICE that led to SCAM instead of SIMP (for "fool") so I guessed SIERRA started with ECO- - - - something!<BR/><BR/>The other odd thing is bec I had PITT I had to have my neighbor google to be sure it was 1999...he gave me GERE, but FORD was the year before...many Sexiest Men with only four letters all in a row!<BR/>FORD, GERE, PITT sound like some sort of race-car (RACEWAR?) reference.<BR/>And is it my imagination or was there some sort of SK thing going on?:<BR/>SixpacKs, SKindeep, StnicK, KeatonS, goKartS, SKihat, SnaKe...<BR/><BR/>and ironically, since I had ---ANTE I had to approach ASS from the rear, but maybe somehow that was again a nod to the whole GAYICON thing, that I'm still in ShocK over!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60992948392065567632008-03-15T21:24:00.000-04:002008-03-15T21:24:00.000-04:00Joon writes:"probably the reason that rex & i foun...Joon writes:<BR/><BR/>"probably the reason that rex & i found it easy is that it's chock-full of pop culture. three sports clues (OPENERA, EIS, XSANDOS), plus GAYICON, KEATONS, STAX, MEAD, GERE, ASSANTE, RIOLOBO, THECORE, EGOISTE, DOEADEER, QVC, a wonder woman reference... just a whole lot of pop here.<BR/>[...] if you weren't in america in, say, the 1980s, it would have been a lot tougher."<BR/><BR/>Well I did live in America since 1978. But I've never been nearly as avid/gluttonous a consumer of pop culture and spectator sports as I gather you and Rex are -- most of the pop entries that inspire Rex to Rhapsodize are just "oh, another one of those" to me. Give me more sweet fill like DISACCHARIDE. (I did appreciate EIS, XSANDOS, and DOEADEER, which btw is way before 1980.) Of the examples in your list, the only ones that mean nothing to me are ASSANTE, RIOLOBO, THECORE, and QVC. The others I could eventually get once I found enough crossing letters. It just was far from easy, even compared with other Saturdays of recent memory. [Of course I'm not complaining about the difficulty and obscurity -- that's what Saturday puzzles are for...]<BR/><BR/>NDEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67478851499189512012008-03-15T21:23:00.000-04:002008-03-15T21:23:00.000-04:00I loved this puzzle in so many ways, as I blogged ...I loved this puzzle in so many ways, as I blogged last night. What, nobody else is commenting on the GAY in GAY ICON parked a few rows atop the RUMP? I liked that bit, too.<BR/><BR/>This afternoon, I read Doug's first comment aloud to my husband, and together we remarked on the gall of telling a blogger what he should or should not write about. There are other crossword blogs out there that maybe didn't say anything at all about Anita Hill, so Doug could always explore those if the Aggressive Lib'rul Lack-of-Reference -to-Clarence-Thomas approach doesn't suit him.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31449626140352199642008-03-15T20:51:00.000-04:002008-03-15T20:51:00.000-04:00First thing I noticed about today's puzzle was DQ-...First thing I noticed about today's puzzle was DQ- I was sure I was in for a thrashing. Then, all these answers kept coming to me (unfortunately, "lasso" was the first thing I entered which held me up when I got back to the NE later). THE CORE, HOEDOWN (a really fun Copland piece to play- now why do I want a steak?), RIO LOBO, even PED XING! <BR/><BR/>So I was thinking that this was an easy puzzle until I got to California. I came up with a few answers (like LATERAL and ARTISTE) but was hesitant to write them in. I had earlier gotten PERM but was again hesitant to write in the BAD part. I had a feeling the cocoa clue had something to do with the 'a' but all I could think of was "final a". I finally put the puzzle down and did some errands, letting the SW percolate. Then, RAN LATE and then LATTE came to me and when I realized [bombed] and LIT were yet more synonyms for drunk, that corner fell.<BR/><BR/>So overall, it was easy-medium for me. My grid would have even been pristine if not for that lasso mistake early on. Oh well, better than yesterday and MUCH better than last Saturday's (which I finished several days later).<BR/><BR/>So many good and fun clue/answers in this one!<BR/><BR/>And how can I not include a Simpsons reference? (You'd think I was a huge Simpsons fan but actually haven't seen a new episode in years.) Anyway, there was a memorable scene where they're driving (more like careening) through a park when Homer hits a deer and says, "D'oh!" which through other family members' subsequent comments becomes "DOE A DEER, a female deer".<BR/><BR/>Fave answer of the day: DOC, of course!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80621047453134131242008-03-15T20:36:00.000-04:002008-03-15T20:36:00.000-04:00noam:probably the reason that rex & i found it eas...noam:<BR/><BR/>probably the reason that rex & i found it easy is that it's chock-full of pop culture. three sports clues (OPENERA, EIS, XSANDOS), plus GAYICON, KEATONS, STAX, MEAD, GERE, ASSANTE, RIOLOBO, THECORE, EGOISTE, DOEADEER, QVC, a wonder woman reference... just a whole lot of pop here. not to mention SODAPOP itself, also clued with a brand name (slice). of course, that's also a big reason i liked the puzzle so much. but if you weren't in america in, say, the 1980s, it would have been a lot tougher.<BR/><BR/>re: DESKTOP, yes it's a recycle bin... in windows. on a mac it's still a trash can. the same goes for many linux/xwindows-ish GUIs, i'm sure.Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52467198623489931312008-03-15T19:31:00.000-04:002008-03-15T19:31:00.000-04:00Since my smack-down at the tournament a couple wee...Since my smack-down at the tournament a couple weeks ago, I've been steering away from the hardest puzzles in an attempt to get my groove back and it was nice to run into a very solvable Saturday - and oh what fun!<BR/><BR/>One mistake - missed the LOS ALTOS / ACELA crossing. Really a comedy of errors here, I was thinking of the Hyundai AZERA which I spelled ACERA (which turns out to be the Spanish word for sidewalk) and crossed with the mythical city of LOS ARTOS (which at least sort of sounds like a name). Even when I saw the answer of LOS ALTOS, I was thinking of LOS ALAMOS, the site of the Manhattan Project and other research, which I knew wasn't in the Silican Valley. So at least I've finally cleared up my confusion.<BR/><BR/>Last letter to fall today (besides my error) - the STAX / PED XING x-ing. Worked my way slowly through the alphabet and as the answer suddenly dawned on me, broke out into a grin.<BR/><BR/>Everything today reminded me once again why I love crosswords!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16037177256664348013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74332761230949473312008-03-15T19:28:00.000-04:002008-03-15T19:28:00.000-04:00Not tough for a Saturday, I thought. The top left ...Not tough for a Saturday, I thought. The top left and bottom right flowed very smoothly, to the point where I was thinking 'Saturday? Really?' The only place I got stuck for a while was in the bottom left. I couldn't make any headway there until I finally just tried throwing LOSALTOS in to see what would come of it. Then I tried ANITA, and things started moving again.<BR/><BR/>I loved XSANDOS when I finally got it. Also GAYICON which it seems was a favorite for most of us. I had -A-ICO- and was thinking 'Calicos? What the?' Then I thought of looking for a two word answer, and I worked it out a moment later. Great! Also loved PEDXING, SILENTA and OPENERA (being a tennis fan.)<BR/><BR/>[Just as an aside... all those long entries with Xs remind me of one of the toughest clues I ever saw in a crossword. It was from one of Stan Newman's 'Saturday Stumper' puzzles from about 9 months ago as I recall. The clue: 'Address of many bars' - the answer: FTKNOXKY. Now that one was sure a nightmare to work out!!!]<BR/><BR/>DESKTOP was also clever, although upon reflection I agree with the earlier comment that perhaps it could be more contemporarily clued as 'Place for a recycle bin' instead. Thoughts?<BR/><BR/>At 19 minutes, almost certainly my fastest ever Saturday time. Although I see that Orange solved it in 5:38 and Byron Walden's time (on the NYT online applet) is 7:40! Who knows how they do it!?!<BR/><BR/>I had great fun with today's puzzle. I don't recall having seen anything by David Quarfoot before, but I'll certainly look forward to tackling more of his puzzles in the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66500869156269283662008-03-15T19:18:00.000-04:002008-03-15T19:18:00.000-04:00At first I had no traction at all on this puzzle, ...At first I had no traction at all on this puzzle, but I eventually got through it with only one error -- "port" instead of "post." I thought that the puzzle had many clever clues, but I would never call it easy -- about average for a Saturday in my view. I was relieved to see that a mathematician way smarter than me felt the same way.Michael Chibnikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04700426644898924644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90257190630785398292008-03-15T19:07:00.000-04:002008-03-15T19:07:00.000-04:00Kick ass puzzle. I was on its wavelength too, and...Kick ass puzzle. I was on its wavelength too, and wrote in GAY ICON off the bat, right into the vast whiteness, no crosses, like I was born to answer that clue. My only brief sticking points were silent a and ice for eis, but they went down.<BR/><BR/>Oh and Doug, suggested reading: Strange Justice. It's a page turner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73191618758596457512008-03-15T18:56:00.000-04:002008-03-15T18:56:00.000-04:00"We"? You're wrapped around the axle on that? I ..."We"? You're wrapped around the axle on that? I was speaking about my wife and me, or my computer and me, or my dog and me. No; I'm actually the Queen---code name "Doug"---and I'm invoking the "royal we".<BR/><BR/>But I'm not surprised. Your apparent technique is to parse, extend and exaggerate. "Diatribe"? Not my word. "Love Clarence Thomas"? Where do you find, or even infer, that?<BR/><BR/>Tomorrow, after some rest, try to look back at my original comment objectively---I concede, flawed grammar and all---and ask yourself: "Is my response not at least a little disproportionate?"<BR/><BR/>Is it that hard being you? Does this blog really require that much defensive vigilance? If so, my disappointment in your lack of civility is replaced with pity, Rex.evil doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17593231055589228837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34225836916943042032008-03-15T18:35:00.000-04:002008-03-15T18:35:00.000-04:00@phillysolver and miriam: I am positively delighte...@phillysolver and miriam: I am positively delighted to see this lowly German dish get this amount of play (yes, yes, I know--two degrees of separation--sorry, folks). And phillysolver: it's <B>supposed</B> to stick to your ribs :-)Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02086202853174403008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67608341387364938482008-03-15T18:18:00.000-04:002008-03-15T18:18:00.000-04:00INT, Miriam, is an abbreviation for Interception, ...INT, Miriam, is an abbreviation for Interception, which would be an unfortunate result of making (throwing) a pass. It goes nicely with the x's and o's.<BR/><BR/>My little town near Atlanta is unscathed, but downtown was hit pretty hard. Thank you all for your concern.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09953519643586772929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21029914304756849082008-03-15T18:10:00.001-04:002008-03-15T18:10:00.001-04:00Forgot to say Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) also tri...Forgot to say Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) also tripped my trigger a bit when the show was on TV. ;) Also it seemed like a lot of the letter "k" in the puzzle; maybe just my perception.<BR/><BR/>I personally enjoy opinion or perspective that isn't strictly "crossword" on this blog, whether I agree with it or not. It is free speech. Censorship is when you must restrict what you say. Right, Doug?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22814140185016619482008-03-15T18:10:00.000-04:002008-03-15T18:10:00.000-04:00Real fun puzzle. My one question: What's "int" s...Real fun puzzle. My one question: What's "int" stand for (4D)? It fell into place, but continues to puzzle me.<BR/><BR/>I'm about to fry a whole lot of onions for Himmel und Erde.miriam bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506593846362044050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88047050796311634102008-03-15T18:00:00.000-04:002008-03-15T18:00:00.000-04:00An Episcopal priest I know cattily remarked last y...An Episcopal priest I know cattily remarked last year that the worldwide Anglican PRIMATES, embroiled as they are in a muddy fight over the gay American bishop, were starting to really act like...primates. Touché.<BR/><BR/>[Sorry about the blanked comment, I had a typo in the original and thought I could transparently fix it by deleting. Not.]Eric Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687908374545158426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14658627280140576252008-03-15T17:55:00.000-04:002008-03-15T17:55:00.000-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Eric Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687908374545158426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7348897564739997682008-03-15T17:50:00.000-04:002008-03-15T17:50:00.000-04:00Um, I don't think Rex showed particular bias - he ...Um, I don't think Rex showed particular bias - he just commented on why he remembered the person in the clue and didn't say anything about anything else. He didn't say THomas was humiliated, he didn't say he wasn't. And Rex gives his opinions on lots of things (tv, music, food, grammar, even the puzzle) - why not the occasional political opinion? Doug, were you also offended by Rex's "race war" comment about the Democratic Party nomination process? <BR/><BR/>And, BTW, I did not find this easy. I'm still working my way up to Saturdays...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com