tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1312806779258426669..comments2024-03-28T10:22:54.898-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Home run specialists slangily / THU 1-19-23 / Postseason game played in Phoenix / Party in a biblical swindle / Guru's honorific / Audibly blown away / Skilled climber in the logo of Italy's Gran Paradiso National Park / Candy originally marketed as a smoking cessation aidRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49567932682299986552023-02-23T15:31:24.422-05:002023-02-23T15:31:24.422-05:00@Upstate George 12:24pm:
When I hear the word demo...@Upstate George 12:24pm:<br />When I hear the word demo, my first thought is demolition, but then again, maybe I grew up around more tradespeople than you. Demo for demonstration, I believe is newer, and probably much more frequently used. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13472422532543334552023-02-23T15:09:50.543-05:002023-02-23T15:09:50.543-05:00@Anonymous 11:01am:
The crossword clue refers to I...@Anonymous 11:01am:<br />The crossword clue refers to Isiah Thomas, who played for the Pistons, and retired in 1994.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23977449008270485342023-02-23T14:49:23.837-05:002023-02-23T14:49:23.837-05:00I got that we needed to turn and add an A, and off...I got that we needed to turn and add an A, and off I went.<br /><br />Didn't even see the second word of each phrase until I was done. So that's cool. And cool for a Thursday? No rebus!<br /><br />Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for CrossWORDSDiana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43764391794190567772023-02-23T11:36:34.794-05:002023-02-23T11:36:34.794-05:00For me this puzzle contained a very painful memory...For me this puzzle contained a very painful memory. Must explain. Son is a Penn Stater, so in one visit out here we went to a PRO-PSU BAR to watch...yeah, THAT game. We stayed much longer than we'd planned (and of course, drank much more), only to suffer that ignominious loss.<br /><br />Anyway, that's where I began, and immediately ran into the SANTABABY thing. SANT by itself made no sense,* so the macguffin had to be something about changing levels. A search for the revealer clue yielded the obvious, so from then on it was just filling in.<br /><br />Even so, problematic cluing and an obscure name at 41a made it a hard grid to complete. "Trusted supporter" is hardly an accurate clue for HENCHMAN; the word usually applies to outlaw gangs, among whom there is traditionally little if any "trust." Also DEMO as short for "demolish?" Come on now, let's be fair. Nor am I loving NBATEAM (though necessary as a theme component) or AGASP.<br /><br />*Here comes the theme defect. In the top TWO, the first part does not stand alone: FIEST and SANT. But in the bottom TWO they do: PAST and WENT. Way more elegant. A shame they couldn't all be like that.<br /><br />I put it medium for a Thursday, with leanings toward challenging here and there. The basic theme idea and revealer are fine, and the rest of it retains some teeth, as Thursdays should. Altogether, a par.<br /><br />Wordle proved vague enough to extend me to yet another "Phew!" six.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5156846618345152112023-01-21T12:36:10.857-05:002023-01-21T12:36:10.857-05:00Hard puzzle for me, even know something was up imm...Hard puzzle for me, even know something was up immediately when SANTA BABY wouldn't fit.<br /><br />Hand up for using algebra and geometry all the time, and calculus occasionally.kitshefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10014225555838850414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41522780174777871582023-01-20T18:00:08.549-05:002023-01-20T18:00:08.549-05:00"Klavier" is simply the German word for ..."Klavier" is simply the German word for piano.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43251856495785451542023-01-19T23:37:48.920-05:002023-01-19T23:37:48.920-05:00Thought most of the clues were pretty pathetic. Bu...Thought most of the clues were pretty pathetic. But, oh how I love Rex! Deehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18182900436993142462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2521114749674171012023-01-19T22:10:29.613-05:002023-01-19T22:10:29.613-05:00Yeah, in Combinatorics we have something familiarl...Yeah, in Combinatorics we have something familiarly called LLL, the Lovasz Local Lemma which has probably been used thousands of times. It seems to me like in Combinatorics the most important theorems are lemmas that the original author never thought was that important until much later when it was used so much it got a name and even an acronym.<br />nonihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09798521719339168943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79218295964148992742023-01-19T21:33:39.957-05:002023-01-19T21:33:39.957-05:00From what I'm reading, PEZ was never marketed ...From what I'm reading, PEZ was never marketed as actually instrumental in curbing a desire to smoke. The creator was anti-smoking, but the advertising was more or less on the level of "Don't smoke, have a PEZ instead!" That strategy fell on deaf ears when it was introduced in the US, so they abandoned it.Joe Dipintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922691457886440325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38076008676997508732023-01-19T21:04:52.583-05:002023-01-19T21:04:52.583-05:00Totally agree on RUN UP A TAB.Totally agree on RUN UP A TAB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53020348713298829282023-01-19T20:27:32.064-05:002023-01-19T20:27:32.064-05:00@Beezer
They see the beauty and logic that I do n...@Beezer <br /><i>They see the beauty and logic that I do not. I truly WISH I had that. At a certain point I passed classes due to memorization rather than “true” understanding. At some point, (due to my children) I realized THAT point really went back to ELEMENTARY school!</i> <br /><br />There's a lot of insight packed into that one remark. You really put your finger on one of the biggest problems: that students fall back on pure memorization without real understanding. It's not the students' fault necessarily that that becomes a habit, but it's a very fragile and superficial sort of education. They were never really engaged to begin with. Two steps forward and one step back: each semester time is spent reminding students what they were supposed to have learned before, but have forgotten. <br /><br />I don't know the solution or even if there is a solution, but I know that in my own case and in the case of other mathematicians, it helps to develop some independence: find your own questions and find your own problems and personal ways of solving them. Of course those problems may have well-known solutions which you can learn in schools, but some fiddling around and experimenting on one's own can be a lot of fun, and you just may hit on something new. Math as a truly creative subject is not something that most people have an inkling of. <br /><br />I'll step off the soapbox and link to the story of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Rice" rel="nofollow">Marjorie Rice</a>, who had an ordinary high school education and was a mother and housewife (to use the old-fashioned term), but who somehow caught the bug of playing around with math on her own, doing it in secret in fact, and became an amateur mathematician with some very interesting discoveries to her credit. <br /><br />I hope a lot of people click on that link, because it's a really neat story. Even if their eyes glazed over at me being a Charlie Brown teacher. :-) TTrimblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34717887376703360572023-01-19T19:40:33.873-05:002023-01-19T19:40:33.873-05:00Different guyDifferent guyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40078949554354058842023-01-19T19:00:04.333-05:002023-01-19T19:00:04.333-05:00I agree with @Carola regarding using arithmetic an...I agree with @Carola regarding using arithmetic and algebra all the time. Just earlier this week my co-worker and I were discussing how odd it was that people hate word problems when they make the world go ‘round. He used the example of choosing what club to use on a golf course depending on the distance and wind speed - estimating what arc you needed to obtain. I use ratios and percentages often in rescaling recipes and knitting projects and I sometimes need to solve for X in my job. <br /><br />I caught on to the puzzle theme at SANTA BABY. With BABY already in place and coming to the clue for 31A, I was able to follow right up the grid and I outlined the answer. I guess I didn’t completely understand the TAB part until the revealer but I knew to watch for wandering themes.<br /><br />AON, is that well-known as clued? It's the first time it has been clued that way - usually it's the Chicago ___ Center or some such. I needed all the crosses; I’m thankful for the kinderklavier!<br /><br />Daniel, thank you for the Thursday puzzle.Teedmnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12832353448839187816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86103581609323111122023-01-19T18:16:42.070-05:002023-01-19T18:16:42.070-05:00@Masked and Anonymous (5:43 PM)
Best wishes for y...@Masked and Anonymous (5:43 PM)<br /><br />Best wishes for your spouse's med procedure and speedy recovery! 🙏<br />___<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_DxNpW1kHQ" rel="nofollow">Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~</a> Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness to all 🙏bocamphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524629632075020985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48479340930566134522023-01-19T17:58:51.159-05:002023-01-19T17:58:51.159-05:00@TTrimble…lol! Yes, kind of like the Charlie Brown...@TTrimble…lol! Yes, kind of like the Charlie Brown teacher! And YES! I loved Math as a kid. My Dad had always said to me…you can do ANY math as long as you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. (He coulda been a “contender” but due to depression and rural background he was skilled tradesman). That gave me confidence early on. Did fine up to quadratic equations (sort of) BUT. I KNOW my daughter and son have “math brains” like their dad. They see the beauty and logic that I do not. I truly WISH I had that. At a certain point I passed classes due to memorization rather than “true” understanding. At some point, (due to my children) I realized THAT point really went back to ELEMENTARY school!Beezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54142240890660817182023-01-19T17:43:40.860-05:002023-01-19T17:43:40.860-05:00Real late gettin around to the puz, today. PuzEati...Real late gettin around to the puz, today. PuzEatinSpouse was havin a little med procedure, and she gets mucho priority always.<br />Real cool theme revealer to build a puz around. thUmbsUp. fave themer: SANT-TAB-BABY. That's where the lights went on, at our house, as to what was goin on with the zig-zagger theme entries.<br />And RUNUPATAB sounds just primo, to m&e. (Much better pick than RUNDOWNABAT, btw.)<br /><br />staff weeject pick: AON. Are they the outfit that live at the Aon Center in Chicago? The buildin name was pretty much the only AON reference M&A had to go on. Started out wantin AIG, tho.<br /><br />some faves included: HENCHMAN. SPOOF. Most of the stuff that the TABs were climbin up on [COM, RAP, & BIG BATs.] SHREWD. LAYITONME. SUBGENRE.<br /><br />Thanx for the fun, Mr. Bodily dude. Nice one.<br /><br />Masked & Anonymo5Us<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://puzzlecrowd.com:8080/UploadRunt/FetchPage?id=NTc1NzM5NDA1NDIwMzczOA&title=Desperate_1_Word_1_Square_1_129_1_-_1_by_1_M_1_and_1_A" rel="nofollow">**gruntz**</a><br /> Masked and Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16346263641338670679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89374959105224889922023-01-19T17:19:14.690-05:002023-01-19T17:19:14.690-05:00@Birchbark (8:29) -- Didn't see your post from...@Birchbark (8:29) -- Didn't see your post from earlier today about your cigar-reward method of quitting smoking. I used my own patented [TM] "Duggan's Dew" method -- Duggan's Dew being my house brand of Scotch that tasted quite similar to Dewars (though it wasn't as smooth), had a similar-looking label, but cost a lot less. Having tried three times to quit smoking and having gone back all three times, I knew I could never again allow myself even the teensiest puff. So every time I thought I would absolutely <i>die</i> without at least one teensy puff, I poured myself a gulp's worth of Duggan's, neat, and drank it, while at the same time taking a very deep breath -- so that I would feel warmth in the same place (somewhere near the lungs) that I was accustomed to getting my nicotine "hit".<br /><br />Oh, and I had a mantra: <i>"Tomorrow I'll worry about becoming an alcoholic. Today I'm not smoking."</i><br /><br />Like your experience with the cigar, @Birchbark, the Scotch eventually became unnecessary. Almost three months to the day after I stopped smoking, my body suddenly stopped sending me nicotine cravings. It was as though my body was saying: "What's the point of sending her cravings if all she's going to do is ignore them?"<br /><br /><br /><br />Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58060597118576413872023-01-19T17:07:44.530-05:002023-01-19T17:07:44.530-05:00I love Weird Al. I had listened to Amish Paradise ...I love Weird Al. I had listened to Amish Paradise right before doing the puzzle. I was really hoping Rex would link it. <br />I really miss Frantic Sloth. A great poster! Does anyone know what happened to him/her? I loved the write ups.<br />I miss Z but I don't miss Z's troll--The biggest jerk on the internet. <br />I had nothing in the top left West corner, so I wound up hitting the revealer very quickly, after getting into trouble at the SANT xmas song clue. I figured it out and worked my way around the rest of the puzzle.<br />My favorite Weird Al SPOOFS: Amish Paradise, White and Nerdy, I bought it on eBay, I Lost On Jeopardy, Perform This Way and Like a Surgeon and Headline News.<br /> I used to be a full time eBay seller in the early naughts so the eBay one hit home. They love me on eBay!! Camilitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17828952049318428219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38273369648742759122023-01-19T16:48:02.420-05:002023-01-19T16:48:02.420-05:00@Barbara S. 8:50 AM
#6 OMG! LOL! "The smooth...@Barbara S. 8:50 AM<br /> #6 OMG! LOL! "The smooth man." Gary Jugerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16782396155485870118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16282473138393962892023-01-19T16:41:58.445-05:002023-01-19T16:41:58.445-05:00@Carola
Oh, I'm proud of you! That's real...@Carola <br />Oh, I'm proud of you! That's really nice to hear. <br /><br />@Beezer <br />Sort of like how every teacher sounds in a Charlie Brown special? <br /><br />Math is almost unique in its ability to make highly intelligent people feel dumb and inadequate. It can be infuriating to be confused and to see these other people nodding happily and confidently as if everything is obvious. Trust me: this can happen at virtually every level. <br /><br />Mathematics starts off being one of the favorite subjects of small children, around first or second grade or so (because it really is inherently interesting), but by the time the kids reach high school, it has become one of the most hated and feared. A lot of my job is trying to get students to feel comfortable so they can ask questions, and to feel to themselves that with a bit of effort, they can get it after all. <br /><br />Algebra: from Arabic الجبر (al-jabr) 'reunion of broken parts, bonesetting'. <br />Said to be "from the title of the early 9th century book cIlm al-jabr wa l-muqābala "The Science of Restoring and Balancing" by the Persian mathematician and astronomer al-Khwarizmi. In his work, the term al-jabr referred to the operation of moving a term from one side of an equation to the other, المقابلة al-muqābala "balancing" referred to adding equal terms to both sides" (Wikipedia). TTrimblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89851412937838797362023-01-19T16:17:02.397-05:002023-01-19T16:17:02.397-05:00Another good name for a kealoa would be a GEENABET...Another good name for a kealoa would be a GEENABETTEOSSIEVIOLASAMMY (possible five-letter answers to “Davis of Hollywood”).Mr. Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12507031178939980974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-500432312276149162023-01-19T16:07:13.345-05:002023-01-19T16:07:13.345-05:00Brilliant construction! (I say this with knowing ...Brilliant construction! (I say this with knowing nothing about creating a crossword puzzle, but it seems so clever to me.)<br /><br />@nancy, the reason you love mathematics may be one of the reasons I love it. I majored in math at an equally major uní. I found that a lot of math has absolutely no relation or relevance to anything. Completely pure. Its only friend is logic. You made me think of certain courses in theory of numbers and advanced geometry that gave me so much pleasure. Thanks! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88859362728501329812023-01-19T15:56:11.581-05:002023-01-19T15:56:11.581-05:00@PeterP. Siesta Bowl! That is perfect! They could ...@PeterP. Siesta Bowl! That is perfect! They could all be named that!beverly chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00726570312695578601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-145862386981754402023-01-19T15:37:26.549-05:002023-01-19T15:37:26.549-05:00Thanks to @Newboy, @Whatsername, @Gill, @okanagane...Thanks to @Newboy, @Whatsername, @Gill, @okanaganer and @Joaquin for remembering the poem. Every once in a blue moon, the spirit moves me and I write a limerick about one of our number who I haven't yet immortalized. If I accumulate enough new ones, I'll publish a second edition.<br /><br />@Nancy (10:36)<br />I don't remember a lot about @Creamy T except that he and his wife were a young couple who solved the puzzle together, and they had a new baby who may have been born during the time @Creamy was posting or maybe just before. <br /><br />@Gary Jugert (11:41)<br />Loved the overlap of 3 in our U'clues. Your first one is delightfully wacky and your last one -- ouch!<br /><br />@okanaganer (1:26)<br />Man, was I proud of myself for getting that 11er. The other -- in the adjectival form -- used to be accepted by SB, and is yet another example of Sam Ezersky outlawing perfectly good words and driving us all to the loony bin.Barbara S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17634754070567731006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41341238199194371332023-01-19T15:33:22.402-05:002023-01-19T15:33:22.402-05:00Just wondering about the background/education of c...Just wondering about the background/education of current puzzle constructors… Today's puzzle, while cleverer than most, had no fewer than SEVEN clues about SPORTS! And recently there's been a proliferation of clues about rap and rappers that I find rather annoying (there were two in today's puzzle). I don't think the NY Times puzzles are anywhere near as clever and challenging as they used to be. So much so that I've taken to working the puzzles from the archives. I started with 1993 and am now up to 2001. Try it if you're fed up with mediocrity and too much pop culture. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com