tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1074714055681843025..comments2024-03-28T11:02:23.098-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Reggae artist Paul / TUE 9-25-12 / Fungus that affects cereal / Game piece on Stratego board / Miserly Marner / 1999 Frank McCourt memoirRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81845291394045254432013-03-06T06:09:30.538-05:002013-03-06T06:09:30.538-05:00Happy B-Day @Evan, hope it was/is a good one.The N...Happy B-Day @Evan, hope it was/is a good one.The NESSIE theme was perfectly fine for a Tuesday but the forced excitement with the “print out the grid in PDF format” instruction, the shaded squares, the asymmetric grid, the “0” square sticking up, (Nessie’s head, I suppose), even the mystery hinted at by the clue for 0 down amounted to nothing worthy of such hype<br />Regard's,<br />Ben Linus,<br /><a href="http://www.nitrotek.nl/rc-autos.html" rel="nofollow">radiografisch auto</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15038778063666950005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38403380882359950082012-10-30T21:37:02.482-04:002012-10-30T21:37:02.482-04:00As a syndicated solver who checks the blog almost ...As a syndicated solver who checks the blog almost every day after finishing the puzzle, I've found that the link to the syndicated puzzle works most of the time. When it's off, I go to the correct one by clicking on the archived puzzle on the right side of the blog page.<br /><br />On my iPad, I find it gets fuzzy if I accidentally enlarge the type as I'm scrolling down. It clears up right away though.Lindanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28059196699410915772012-10-30T17:43:42.995-04:002012-10-30T17:43:42.995-04:00@DJ Stone. I've also had problems with the &qu...@DJ Stone. I've also had problems with the "conversation" part of this blog page. The "newer" link seems to have stopped working correctly-this has been the case for several weeks now. It has a real tendency to keep going back to the last Syndie Sunday puzzle. Solution, Google Rex and ask for the date shown as a No. before the day's date.<br /><br />I have also been having a lot of grief trying to keep the blog column in focus, it jumps in and out of blurry to less blurry, and if I'm lucky becomes readable. This blog is the only place I have this problem. Even the rest of Rex's site is crystal clear. Does it matter that I use an Ipad? Not for solving, for that I'm pen on paper.<br /><br /> Both these problems arose weeks ago, long before Sandy existed. i don't know much (anything) about how all this magical Internet functions, but I suspect the problem exists with whoever sends these messages on to us--maybe the Captcha guys really do have it in for us???DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74029357130294178652012-10-30T16:33:39.739-04:002012-10-30T16:33:39.739-04:00DJ, I guess, with the power outages cause by mega-...DJ, I guess, with the power outages cause by mega-storm Sandy, Rex has probably been unable to update the blog. Or has more pressing business at hand...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07473464847995144540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63300116998888182202012-10-30T16:16:38.332-04:002012-10-30T16:16:38.332-04:00First, a question for others in SyndiLand, then a ...First, a question for others in SyndiLand, then a comment.<br /><br />I used to come here nearly daily, then left, and have very recently returned. I've noticed that the Syndicated Solvers link at the top of Rex's page is inaccurate. For instance today, it took me to Sunday, October 21st. (My computer has the correct date and time.) Is this an issue for everyone, just peculiar to me, or an old issue that everyone knows about?<br /><br />Comment: Mark Rothko was a modern art con job to make money off suckers. Take a look at his "abstract" subway paintings. They were abstract because he had no real drawing/drafting skills. So, he did the next best thing. Just painted rectangles and let dealers convince buyers and critics that they were profound. Whatever.DJ Stonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-51948810122879120122012-10-30T14:21:43.795-04:002012-10-30T14:21:43.795-04:00A fun Tuesday that fell easily enough once I repla...A fun Tuesday that fell easily enough once I replaced Barb with BABS. Seems there are "Nessies" everywhere. We looked in vain for Ogopogo (have I remembered that name correctly?) in British Columbia. No critter, but they make incredible jam in that valley. <br /><br />i join those who used peckish to mean touchy or, as defined here, TESTY, even though I had English Grandparents and my mother was Canadian-so much for dictionaries.<br /><br />Been watching the weather news as Sandy has ravished the East Coast,and note that, while Rex posted a solution for today's (Oct 30) puzzle,there is no word from our Eastern Syndies. Still have my fingers crossed.<br /><br />Now to the Captcha which seems to be a salute to MRegnif, whoever he is!DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62106612804327062182012-09-26T09:57:12.625-04:002012-09-26T09:57:12.625-04:00I use Shortyz for Android, works great, and will a...I use Shortyz for Android, works great, and will auto download from NYT. Shows things like the circles in this puzzle just fine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38724694902199375682012-09-26T03:24:06.944-04:002012-09-26T03:24:06.944-04:00Challenging? ITHOUGHTSO!
I think REAL FAKE refer...Challenging? ITHOUGHTSO! <br />I think REAL FAKE refered to LOCHNESSMONSTER, DOWSING, STPAT and whether or not peckish = TESTY.<br />Where was WWF?Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71595998662162115222012-09-25T23:59:01.416-04:002012-09-25T23:59:01.416-04:00This 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 6:12, 6:48, 0.91, 15%, Easy<br />Tue 9:18, 8:56, 1.04, 66%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:37, 3:41, 0.98, 44%, Medium<br />Tue 5:28, 4:39, 1.17, 91%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58156541744260674812012-09-25T23:35:11.273-04:002012-09-25T23:35:11.273-04:00AIDA threw me off, heading toward Egypt, not Scotl...AIDA threw me off, heading toward Egypt, not Scotland. Very Thursday; now I have to reset my CLOCK!+wordphanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05693465770426693314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47470798703011210392012-09-25T19:49:52.658-04:002012-09-25T19:49:52.658-04:00i made a mess of this despite seeing nessie and lo...i made a mess of this despite seeing nessie and lochness monster...hand up for conk instead of zonk and sear for char, wanted i told you so, etc. and i thought it was wednesday.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72490604375360575462012-09-25T19:06:00.350-04:002012-09-25T19:06:00.350-04:00@Two Ponies they did indeed find water.
Same depth...@Two Ponies they did indeed find water.<br />Same depth as my well.<br />Same depth as every well in the neighborhood.<br /><br />It is very rare to drill a dry well here. <br /><br />Job security for the dowser.Tobias Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14828873893205954337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48674512474071939982012-09-25T18:50:27.156-04:002012-09-25T18:50:27.156-04:001) Clue for OCEAN was deceptively simple.
2) I re...1) Clue for OCEAN was deceptively simple.<br /><br />2) I recently moved to a small town in Vermont that is home to the American Society of Dowsers. They have their own building, book store, and instructional classes. <br /><br />So...THEY seem to think there's something to it.Bob Sneadnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89566781698558780912012-09-25T16:32:39.434-04:002012-09-25T16:32:39.434-04:00cOOLOGY, bOOLOGY, kOOLOGY, huh? What is ZONK?
The...cOOLOGY, bOOLOGY, kOOLOGY, huh? What is ZONK?<br /><br />The theme was easy for me.<br /><br />Wanted the 7 Series to be something baseball. <br /><br />@Sparky - STPAT bothered me first time I saw it. Now, it's a yawn.<br /><br />SEXED as a verb - checking hamsters for which sex they are. <br /><br />In the bad old days, ERGOT was used for abortions.Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66867929835179791802012-09-25T16:22:35.528-04:002012-09-25T16:22:35.528-04:00Google the Salem Witch Trials and ergot. While tea...Google the Salem Witch Trials and ergot. While teaching "The Crucible" and offering the possible role that ergot may have played, one of my students asked, "Where can I get this stuff?"rjbrunnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10670741390272397728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88409001101595450142012-09-25T16:21:27.204-04:002012-09-25T16:21:27.204-04:00Missing @Evil.
Ian, would like your take on this ...Missing @Evil.<br /><br />Ian, would like your take on this -- how much was your original puzzle changed?Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09709142959535977331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26332614744459907472012-09-25T16:18:35.078-04:002012-09-25T16:18:35.078-04:00Happy Birhday Evan. Many happy returns.
I can...Happy Birhday Evan. Many happy returns.<br /><br />I can't see the photo of Nessie either. Ran through dog and cat before RAT. Still annoyed by ST PAT. Show some respect, dagnabbit. Agreed with several of the points above but basically had a fun time.<br /><br />Onward. Sparkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149915526159432838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45451820731085711552012-09-25T15:54:20.698-04:002012-09-25T15:54:20.698-04:00First let me say that I am a major skeptic. Howev...First let me say that I am a major skeptic. However, I apparently married some one who was once a teenage water witch. In an experiment conducted by a science teacher she was able to locate a known underground water source that fed a local pond. She subsequently helped a number of people in the area identify drilling sites for wells (including her own parents). She has no idea why she could at one time do this nor was she ever paid for the service. My best scientific guess is that she is very sensitive to vibrations. We live in SOCAL and she was always the first to feel an earthquake. She would of course fail the Randi test as standing water doesn't really vibrate.jaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80165356864806205422012-09-25T15:01:01.451-04:002012-09-25T15:01:01.451-04:00Midday 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 />Tue 9:14, 8:56, 1.03, 64%, Medium-Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Tue 5:31, 4:39, 1.18, 91%, Challenging<br /><br />Today's numbers and ratings may be skewed in some unpredictable way by the note in the online app suggesting that people print it out and solve it on paper. This means that the sample of solve times submitted online may not be typical of a Tuesday.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62284449566012906292012-09-25T14:42:46.291-04:002012-09-25T14:42:46.291-04:00Love dk's typo about the puzzle's extortio...Love dk's typo about the puzzle's extortion ....fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35905676793190106712012-09-25T14:13:27.970-04:002012-09-25T14:13:27.970-04:00@Chefwen, I feel your pain....
JFC@Chefwen, I feel your pain....<br /><br />JFCJFCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40502592085967293732012-09-25T14:11:07.766-04:002012-09-25T14:11:07.766-04:00@milford
You're right, but Harry Shearer wasn&...@milford<br />You're right, but Harry Shearer wasn't there, some other person was subbing for him.<br />(only other absence was Matt Groening, but Jim Brooks was present, laughing away....he apparently is the only one in Fox history who insisted no notes from executives/suits and was granted it!)<br /><br />And correction to my earlier post, Moe is voiced by Hank Azaria, so it was he who had to argue with himself at one point, but Homer also was Krusty, all slightly confusing as I've probably only seen ten to twenty episodes total...but I tried to take notes for Simpsons freaks!<br /><br />@rookie<br />I'm with you...I've always thought peckish as TESTY and thought hungry was a Britishism...so maybe it's a NEW England thing. <br />Surprised it's swinging the other way in this crowd.<br /><br />Sort of agree that circles seem scant but if the NYT had shaded in the whole LOCHNESSMONSTER phrase, which it might have been initially conceived that way, for all we know, it would have appeared like a fuller picture. <br /><br />No need to save for a Sunday Gorski treatment...it's fabulous Ian got this entire thing into a Tuesday! <br />(with that cute little box that does look nicer on paper)<br /><br />And altho NESSIE has "easy" letters, that's no mean feat to get them in order and placed like that!!!<br />( so light slap upside the head for those that criticised they went from right to left or that NESS/NESSIE were both in the puzzle!!! )<br /><br />Side-note about comparing constructors or making it a competition instead of an appreciation: Ian is a constructor who is so multitalented in so many directions/days of the week, why compare Ian to Liz...or other constructors with phrases like "this was good but he/ she is no Patrick Berry"?!?<br />I even cringe when someone compares another Monday to one of mine...we are all unique doing our own thing, room for everyone...it is not a competition (hmmmm, except for Will's attention, I guess, and that there are only so many Monday/Tuesday slots in a year).<br />Or, ok, if it is valid to compare one constructor's style with another, as true in other art criticism, let's make it nondismissive...no need to put down one while praising another.<br /><br />And, by the way, for Ian Livengood fans, he's just released his first book of easy puzzles on the new ebook Puzzazz site (love that name!)Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5278296361640627302012-09-25T14:08:22.965-04:002012-09-25T14:08:22.965-04:00I'm getting really paranoid now!!
I posted my...I'm getting really paranoid now!!<br /><br />I posted my comment at about 10:30ish and now it's GONE!! As far as I know Rex did not delete it-<br /><br />It had the usual- liked the puzzle, easy- CRYPTOZOOLOGeezy stuff...<br /><br />And I wished Evan a happy birthday- 29is a wonderful age. I know, I've been it forever.<br /><br />I know it got posted, cuz I saw that I goofed and realized 'there was no r in birthday'...<br /><br />So how did it disappear??Sandy Knoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29339652424898653902012-09-25T13:57:46.073-04:002012-09-25T13:57:46.073-04:00Seemed more like a Wednesday to me.Seemed more like a Wednesday to me.KarenSampsonHudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12072958906391798661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27818392618338191412012-09-25T13:43:45.966-04:002012-09-25T13:43:45.966-04:00Like @Rex, I saw the grid and thought chimney, but...Like @Rex, I saw the grid and thought chimney, but wondered how the shaded squares (print version) were going to be connected. In the end I thought it was a fine puzzle. Same experience at 20A. I had SURGENONS PH and thought PHONE, but decided to move on and come back later.<br /><br />I don’t know how many poetic contractions there are that end in EER (which would make completing the grid difficult), but because I remembered the monster’s name I was able to use my 35D and write N at 0D.<br /><br />We always had kegs at my Frat parties, but BEER is in the kegs so no big deal.<br /><br />Nits at 62A (I have an In-Box), 8D (I think a lawyer would argue that Ian forgot the word “alleged” in the clue) and 45D (they are NARCS in my book).<br /><br />Hand up for thinking peckish means hungry, not that I use that word anyway.<br /><br />@Anoa Bob and @Retired Chemist – It’s 4:20 somewhere.Birdnoreply@blogger.com