tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1307632924005300002..comments2024-03-28T08:36:57.662-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Order from on high / TUE 8-10-21 / Cart pullers / Scrabble or cribbage / Actor Patel / High piano toneRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36499619997117441662021-09-14T20:20:35.587-04:002021-09-14T20:20:35.587-04:00oops - forgot to post.
Years ago during a summer ...oops - forgot to post.<br /><br />Years ago during a summer break in college I waitressed at a Howard Johnson's on the New Jersey Turnpike. The 11 pm to 7 am shift. Breakfast was a big part of the end of our shift. I NEVER heard the term HENetcetc. Of course, Howard Johnson's had their own "lingo" we were supposed to learn. These hurricanes remind me of the one that shut us down that summer one night. When the lights came back on, the entire parking lot's worth of folks came in ALL AT ONCE. Oh the humanity. Lots of eggs.<br /><br />Diana, Lady Waiting on TablesDiana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66731425053774567232021-09-14T18:11:35.140-04:002021-09-14T18:11:35.140-04:00Never heard them called HENBERRIES. Have heard &qu...Never heard them called HENBERRIES. Have heard "cackleberries," that's it. What wonders me is that the simple, one-syllable word "eggs" wasn't good enough.<br /><br />Now THERE's the way to start your puzzle out: with the notorious RBG, our DOD. I mean, if you have to have a vowelless acronym, she's your gal.<br /><br />I had just a bit of trouble figuring out what the revealer was; not used to thinking on a Tuesday. So, points for that. Once it came, it produced a sizeable aha! moment. Good job--and much, MUCH better fill than yesterday. Birdie.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57656955148958590962021-09-14T11:23:39.006-04:002021-09-14T11:23:39.006-04:00ABC GRAD, F-ZERO
CAP'N EZRA was BOOKSMART you...ABC GRAD, F-ZERO<br /><br />CAP'N EZRA was BOOKSMART you know,<br />A-PLUS in his SCHOOLHOUSE run,<br />but UNDERPAR to PLINK the WIDOW:<br />couldn't get ONEUP for ONEONONE.<br /><br />--- RAHEEM RUBIOBurma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-92176596331516369062021-09-14T10:07:29.595-04:002021-09-14T10:07:29.595-04:00Pretty good. A bit of junk fill but not tons. Not ...Pretty good. A bit of junk fill but not tons. Not an APLUS, but a solid B.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55975032268061412112021-08-10T23:42:15.632-04:002021-08-10T23:42:15.632-04:00@mmorgan
Thanks!@mmorgan<br /><br />Thanks!JC66https://www.blogger.com/profile/05324615675333287919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82262372449740051122021-08-10T23:09:07.462-04:002021-08-10T23:09:07.462-04:00Sshhh. Don’t tell anyone but https://www.nytimes...Sshhh. Don’t tell anyone but https://www.nytimes.com/svc/crosswords/v2/puzzle/daily-2021-08-11.puz gave me the,AcrossLite version for Wednesday. So nice. Shhhhh……mmorganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18375430572178263265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89180927337395418382021-08-10T22:05:19.755-04:002021-08-10T22:05:19.755-04:00Makes me want to start a chicken farm called Hen B...Makes me want to start a chicken farm called Hen Berries. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4199424705240689222021-08-10T20:47:13.512-04:002021-08-10T20:47:13.512-04:00I've heard henberries - but find "who'...I've heard henberries - but find "who's times" confusing. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17081499668741003452021-08-10T20:41:14.696-04:002021-08-10T20:41:14.696-04:00One of the pleasures of today's blog was learn...One of the pleasures of today's blog was learning the ins and outs of diner lingo and how inventive it can be. @tea73 and @CDilly52's posts were especially colorful, and there were some interesting examples on Wordplay as well. I filched one of those comments; I doubt the poster will mind too much:<br /><br />With all the comments about diners and children's books, it brought back to mind a book our son just loved when he was young: "Frank and Ernest" by Alexandra Day. Along with the titular bear and elephant who ran the diner, we learned the lingo of the diner staff as they communicated in classic shorthand. "Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it!" (Hamburger with lettuce and tomato, finished with an onion) <br /><br />Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59234420208607703732021-08-10T19:07:48.307-04:002021-08-10T19:07:48.307-04:00@Anon 5:34 - agreed. And, if someone wants to go a...@Anon 5:34 - agreed. And, if someone wants to go after RBG, fill your boots - and good luck with that.<br /><br />@ Anon 2:06 - good advice.Keith Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10317310946026007721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37206037638011949352021-08-10T19:04:57.457-04:002021-08-10T19:04:57.457-04:00@CDilly52 - So glad I jogged your memory since it ...@CDilly52 - So glad I jogged your memory since it resulted in the telling of a great diner story. <br />Thx for sharing!Joaquinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03744952152768979913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8870573090510564542021-08-10T19:04:54.788-04:002021-08-10T19:04:54.788-04:00Great post, Tom, you’ll be a seneschal in no time ...Great post, Tom, you’ll be a seneschal in no time with stellar write-ups such as this one. We struggled with excited vs exited, too….added waaayyy more than 20 seconds to our times. Thanks for filling in.dadnoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06047071108502719165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47749409165987812312021-08-10T18:52:22.705-04:002021-08-10T18:52:22.705-04:00@Joaquin. I have to thank you for triggering anot...@Joaquin. I have to thank you for triggering another excellent memory. I actually spent two years as a short order cook at the student Union at a state university (which shall remain nameless) and cooked about three million or so eggs during breakfast rush and never, either back in the kitchen among folk who were lifers in the food service industry, or coming from patrons (students, faculty and miscellaneous others who stopped in mostly on Thursdays to get a big slab of my locally famous coffee cake), or at any other time in my many part time food industry kitchen jobs - I am not even close enough to being nice enough to actually serve food-have I ever heard the term HEN BERRIES. Never. Ever. (For our dear @LMS and all other teachers among our numbers, my sincere apology for that horrible run-on sentence!) I did hear “cackleberries” once. <br /><br />My rather extensive diner experience includes working kitchens in three and eating breakfast at diners in 38 states. My husband and I loved diner food and we loved breakfast. Wherever we traveled, (usually by the back roads) we searched for the local diner, and kept a list with ratings. William Least Heat-Moon’s book, “Blue Highways” gave us the “calendar classification system” for rating local diners: one to three wall calendars (the kind all the banks and funeral establishments give away in December). The diner in this story is a three calendar establishment. Nothing but the best homestyle cooking. <br /><br />The memorable use of “cackleberries” was uttered by an old farmer in Grand Junction, Colorado. It was in a favorite place of ours downtown near the courthouse, in small towns the location of many, many great diners. <br /><br />Early one October morning, an overall-clad farmer, clearly unhappy stomped through the dining room balancing a huge stack of open flat egg crates, the gray ones that hold 5-6 dozen eggs and have no lids. Well they have lids, but when we see them, it is usually next to a short-order cook plowing through them at the speed of light during the breakfast rush. <br /><br />Anyway, this was a memorable event because the farmer was yelling to “George” as soon as he (the farmer, not George-sheesh-my writing today!) backed through the front door balancing this wobbling and precarious stack. “George” was just somewhere back in the kitchen, but the place is small and our angry farmer was not using his “inside voice” as he yelled, “Dammit, George, the !$#*%ing back door is still locked! Do you want me to scramble these nice fresh cackleberries before they are ordered?!” Then he looked around and noticed the few early diners present. With utmost care and skill, he raised the lip of this huge wobbly stack to the brim of his straw cowboy hat, tipped it, looked around the restaurant making eye contact with the diners and quietly said, “so sorry folks, please excuse the intrusion and enjoy your breakfast.” <br /><br />Eggs were forever cackleberries to us, and we have no idea the name of the diner now, because it became “George’s with the locked back door.” If you enjoy trips on those roads less traveled, read Least Heat-Moon’s book. And go have yourselves a “yellow blanket on boards with easy diggins.” That’s scrambled eggs on toast with gravy. <br /><br />Oh, and I enjoyed this easy but fun puzzle. <br />CDilly52https://www.blogger.com/profile/07727001753847073030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12091361736913912122021-08-10T18:33:39.216-04:002021-08-10T18:33:39.216-04:00My maternal grandparents still had a working farm ...My maternal grandparents still had a working farm when I was growing up in rural Tennessee and chickens and their eggs played a big part in our lives. Never once heard HEN BERRY used for what we just called "egg". I would bet that phrase has military roots. I remember from my Navy days colorful terms for common foods such as "shit on a shingle" and "foreskins on toast", so HEN BERRY, though a bit tamer, could easily be a military mess hall phrase.<br /><br />A @2:31 PM, I did notice the generous help the grid got from the <a href="https://anoabob.blogspot.com/2013/05/poc-doc.html" rel="nofollow">POC (plural of convenience)</a>. The POC that always stands out the most for me is when it's a themer, as happens today when HEN BERRY needs a two (!) letter count boost in order to fill its designated slot in the grid. <br /><br />Making HEN work in parallel with the other themers is tough. There's a 10 letter slot that must be filled and there aren't that many 10 letter phrase, with or without a POC, that begin with HEN. Two that came to mind from my chicken and egg enriched youth were HEN "scratching" and "cackling", but they're too long. HENPECKING fits but maybe the tough-to-cross "p_ck" sequence ruled it out. <br /><br />When I see a black square hanging out all by itself, kind of loitering there in a corner, I wonder if that day's offering is a debut construction. The kinder and more generous critic, such as moi, call these, along with the one after 4A GRAD and before 70A SETS, "helper" squares because they simply take up additional space and make it easier to fill grid areas. The less kind, hard-cheese-in-the-big-city type critic would call them "cheater" squares. I'm not one of those ILKS.Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40504339023248311222021-08-10T17:34:29.484-04:002021-08-10T17:34:29.484-04:00@Keith D- Just spitballing but my read on Karen’s ...@Keith D- Just spitballing but my read on Karen’s ineloquent comment is that if it’s fair to take shots at Marco RUBIO then it’s fair to take shots at RBG. Why anyone would try go after either of them on a crossword blog is beyond me but I’ve read stranger things here. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58503256105784331642021-08-10T16:46:57.227-04:002021-08-10T16:46:57.227-04:00@pmdm and @albatross shell - Spellchecker karma be...@pmdm and @albatross shell - Spellchecker karma because I was being too cute with “all though?” Mental Homophone Fog because it was early? You decide. I just scrolled up to my post to catch up and the typo practically screeched in laughter at me. Damn words and their sense of humor. <br /><br />It’s been about a week since I emailed @Barbara S so I was relieved to hear from her and knew many others would appreciate the update. Yet another reason to “go blue” and include an email link in your profile. That and the ability to delete embarrassing typos. Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33016118159828067202021-08-10T16:03:11.879-04:002021-08-10T16:03:11.879-04:00Diner slang is dumb and too cute by half.Diner slang is dumb and too cute by half.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3763085306664559332021-08-10T15:59:29.319-04:002021-08-10T15:59:29.319-04:00I found the NE corner to be the sticking point tod...I found the NE corner to be the sticking point today: the EZRA/SUCRE/ONEUP combo was especially tricky, not helped by the PTA vs. PTO dilemma. But overall I liked this.<br /><br />I'm truly enjoying this round of guest bloggers.<br />And did not miss for one second what was sure to be a one-paragraph Rex rant about RUBIO. <br /><br />I, too, never heard of HENBERRIES, but it made me chuckle. And made me wonder about some of you who never heard of a term before and just sort of reflexively think it must have been made up for the sake of the puzzle. <br /><br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410198809183164965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-91366884548961823542021-08-10T15:45:53.025-04:002021-08-10T15:45:53.025-04:00NYT has not only taken down the .puz file for toda...NYT has not only taken down the .puz file for today's crossword; they have done the same for the nearly 20 years of archived puzzles. Certainly no effort was needed to leave what was already there alone, so the claim of refocusing resources would not apply to the archives.kitshefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10014225555838850414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29316520353955502722021-08-10T15:35:26.768-04:002021-08-10T15:35:26.768-04:00@Carwash Bra fans, Right! It seemed crazy at the t...@Carwash Bra fans, Right! It seemed crazy at the time too.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017442626218615886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7508033956536101992021-08-10T15:13:04.877-04:002021-08-10T15:13:04.877-04:00I love diner slang. I'd never seen HENBERRIES ...I love diner slang. I'd never seen HENBERRIES before either. But I think a whole puzzle of this stuff would be great.<br />Bridge Party = Four of anything<br />Bad Breath = Onions<br />Burn the British = Toasted English muffin<br />City Juice = water<br />Cowboy with spurs = Western omelette with fries<br />Drag one through Wisconsin = with cheese on it<br />Drown the kids = boiled eggs<br />Fish eyes in glue = Tapioca pudding<br /><br />tea73https://www.blogger.com/profile/04949792626860120963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81048802764598866732021-08-10T14:59:20.765-04:002021-08-10T14:59:20.765-04:00@Barney (9:41am) re LAT .puz files ... they're...@Barney (9:41am) re LAT .puz files ... they're available through Cruciverb.com. I think you may need to register with the site in order to access them, but I'm not 100% sure of that. I know you don't need to pay for their premium subscription that gives you access to their puzzle database which allows you to search clues and answers.<br /><br />I was surprised and happy to discover that today's NYT .puz file was available there today. We'll see how long that lasts. I hope I'm not letting the cat out of the bag to prying eyes from the NYT here.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4031530438304189622021-08-10T14:48:35.101-04:002021-08-10T14:48:35.101-04:00When my mother travelled to China in the late 1980...When my mother travelled to China in the late 1980s, she bought me a souvenir copy of Mao's Little Red Book. And it was a red book about 2 inches square with some of Mao's quotations. A gift that I still treasure since it came from her. <br /><br /><br />bookmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16215548445882097765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84341868948443524152021-08-10T14:31:04.742-04:002021-08-10T14:31:04.742-04:00SourPUSS here, ready for duty. Maybe if yesterday ...SourPUSS here, ready for duty. Maybe if yesterday hadn’t been so good, I'd have like this one more. But it was, and I didn’t. Too much PPP, including some totally unneccessary like U-HAUL, WIDOW. Mostly just not enough reward for the annoyances, starting with the disappointing number of POCs I’m sure @Anoa Bob will enumerate. I’ll just look at them and heave ACAI.<br /><br />Is SEIZING ON a PPOC? (present participle of convenience)<br /><br />I’d like to put SPEX and TUDES (both POCs, if you ask me) into a SAUNA and SEAL the door. Don’t care how many cries for HELP or SOS signals I hear.<br /><br />Where I’m from people didn’t use the word SMART to reference BOOK learning. Sadly, I was not in the street SMART crowd.<br /><br />Ok, the pileup of GRAD, APLUS and BOOKSMART is cute. Same with SUCRE BERRIES and CAPN Crunch.<br /><br />In addition to the ever recurring ACAI, we got a nod to the -ight puzzle with EIGHT, REEF was foreshadowed by yesterday's CORAL, and DURAN DURAN strangely echoed SIRHAN SIRHAN.<br /><br />Nice bonus how we all talked about Katharine Hepburn a couple of days ago and here she is in the clue for RKO.<br /><br />OOH, THREE is an “Afternoon hour”? FWD means “Send on, as an email: Abbr.” I was bored and ready to be done, but the optimist in me saw excited before I found the exit. <br /><br />My dog thinks PLINK means she’s going out to fetch the paper. When I disarm the security in the morning, it makes a LITTLE PLINK. She hears it and paws at the door. Which now needs painting.<br /><br />Ok, enough stream of unconsciouness. It’s Ian Anderson’s birthday! I learned he has a ‘Guide to Indian Food” on jethrotull.com. (mmm - have to get Mr. A to check that out and expand his culinary repertoire) He also had a PUSS who was mesmerized by his flute. <a href="https://youtu.be/2u0XXpVGUwk" rel="nofollow">I wonder if it liked this.</a>Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08237000067564152763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23991223702621665172021-08-10T14:06:15.789-04:002021-08-10T14:06:15.789-04:00@Keih D- Don’t feed ‘em.@Keih D- Don’t feed ‘em.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com