tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1754577232421782346..comments2024-03-29T00:28:40.417-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: 1935 poem with one word per line / SUN 5-10-15 / Comic impressionist David / Mad magazine cartoonist Drucker / Branded footwear / Counterpart of Aurora / Internet troll intentionally / She's courted in courtship of Miles Standish / 1990 Mike Leigh comedy drama / Mountain to mountain transport / Sch with Manchester campus / Walk with swaying hips Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34490552469411655442017-02-11T21:29:19.812-05:002017-02-11T21:29:19.812-05:00I'm Mellisa Thomas; My husband just came back ...I'm Mellisa Thomas; My husband just came back home after leaving me for so long. I can't explain this but I just have to share my joy and happiness with the world I don't know how Dr Ihunde helped me in bringing back my husband. I have been frustrated for the past 6 years with my 3 kids in a marriage of 19 years after my husband had left me for no reason, all i did every day was to cry. One faithful day a friend of mine came visiting and I told her about the situation i have been for years now, she then told me about a very powerful man called Dr Ihunde Spell Temple. that he is a very powerful man, at first I never wanted to believe her because I have spent a lot going to different places but she convinced me, so I had no choice because I really need my husband back. So we contacted Dr Ihunde who told me all I needed to do and i give him a trial. But the greatest joy in me today is that Dr Ihunde was able to bring my husband back to me after years of not even taken my calls. and now we are living happily as never before. Thanks to Dr Ihunde. If you have problems of any kind I will advise you to contact him via his email: (ihundespelltemple@gmail.com) or call him +2349055637784. Jessica L. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13408448099656902268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52747130490146004902015-05-24T15:21:51.940-04:002015-05-24T15:21:51.940-04:00Man, what a great example of existentialism. I am ...Man, what a great example of existentialism. I am snapping my fingers as I type. My favorite? Put forth: exerted! Need a beer right NOW.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05964501472593587070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65178509257275109542015-05-19T23:51:47.064-04:002015-05-19T23:51:47.064-04:00Yeah, I'm with most of you on this one. I can...Yeah, I'm with most of you on this one. I can't even find the poem on line (haven't tried all that hard, but I shouldn't have to). <br /><br />And C Flat is B, isn't it? Everything I know about music tells me that C and B are only a half-step apart. Maybe I don't know enough.<br /><br />This is the type of Sunday puzzle I generally have no shot at finishing...yet somehow I did, without error. Still, no satisfaction. No no no. Hey hey hey. That's what I say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72231702714495473072015-05-17T19:44:59.119-04:002015-05-17T19:44:59.119-04:00Poetry is a wonderful thing. +/- 100 days in a row...Poetry is a wonderful thing. +/- 100 days in a row for me on this blog, sometimes more than 1 per day.<br /><br />502 not bad?BS2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64090531189767597192015-05-17T17:35:44.670-04:002015-05-17T17:35:44.670-04:00U suckU suckAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73423000319386352202015-05-17T17:29:10.715-04:002015-05-17T17:29:10.715-04:00Haaaated it! And made me hate poetry even more and...Haaaated it! And made me hate poetry even more and it made me want to kick Will in the Shortz!<br />Grrrrrrrrrr!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42220339038564247872015-05-17T16:24:50.743-04:002015-05-17T16:24:50.743-04:00Two sittings: 1 1/2 hours total. I just couldn&#...Two sittings: 1 1/2 hours total. I just couldn't get anything up North, so I went South and started chipping away working diagonally upwards. WILLIAMS gave the author, and a toehold in the NE. At this point, I became motivated to finish what I thought was a creative and well-constructed puzzle. Tough cluing, sure, but it was fair.<br /><br />Ultimately, though, I finished with the famous @Dirigonzo OWS-at the GST/SPCA cross. Really should have got that.<br /><br />It took a long time, but I never thought it was a slog--more an adventure with the payoff being sussing out the poem. I've always wanted to appreciate poetry, and I appreciated this poem, and this puzzle.<br /><br />Correctly identified sandwiches for the captcha.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66310570098538328782015-05-17T14:04:24.179-04:002015-05-17T14:04:24.179-04:00KIN ATANEND
ILLTELL you I OFTEN BECOME TEARFUL an...KIN ATANEND<br /><br />ILLTELL you I OFTEN BECOME TEARFUL and then<br />how GRUELING it feels to repeat ONCE, and OVERAGAIN<br />that my parents ATEDIRT when their car VAULTed OVER a cliff,<br />cops REMOVED their bodies days later, one could CPA and MASTIFF.<br /><br />--- PEGLEG PRISCILLA<br />Burma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50752955568365903382015-05-17T13:50:37.124-04:002015-05-17T13:50:37.124-04:00
Don’t know why I spent the time to actually finis...<br />Don’t know why I spent the time to actually finish, maybe that A.M. rain. Or maybe because I co-habitated next door to one of WCM’s descendants for about 10 years and there could be some insight to her lifestyle. But no. Time not well spent.<br /><br />It seems that I can hear Mel Blanc calling out CUCAMONGA as the last stop of a train line.<br /><br />Enough of this ILLTELL you. MAYISEE something more interesting next time?<br /><br />7367 not muchrondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76184149887826011572015-05-17T13:30:00.733-04:002015-05-17T13:30:00.733-04:00It's a "feat" puzzle, all right--and...It's a "feat" puzzle, all right--and the "feat" smell! I came close to DNFing. Yes, WCW went in quickly, but no, That poem did not. I needed almost every cross. The entire SW resisted entry so hard I almost gave up. AMONG the many things I've never heard of:<br /><br />-->ALL the NE acrosses. ROPEWAY? Is that a thing? ATEDIRT for "showed humility?" I guess, metaphorically, but yikes! And GOGGLED? As a VERB? Hmm, the jockey GOGGLED his face with eight pair before the Preakness (good thing, too: he needed all of them. Unless he was riding the wire-to-wire winner. All hail American Pharaoh!)<br /><br />--> Anything ever written in CFLAT. Does such a key even exist? And in the other direction, TLC as applied to a fixer-upper?? Yet what else could it be? That square was really troublesome for me. The only reason I went with C was that no sense could be made of TLA, TLB, TLD or TLE.<br /><br />-->Mike Leigh, let alone his 1990 comedy-drama.<br /><br />-->Oh yeah, and that FRYE dude.<br /><br />So yes, today was a slog. When there are no other rewards besides getting through it, we're not having tons of fun over here.<br /><br />I acknowledge the feat: B. (Defect: obscure work by famous poet).<br /><br />I smell the feet (fill). Raunchy. F.<br /><br />Combined grade: How fitting--a shout-out to Mr. Schulz in this very grid! Can you guess, sir? How about that: I found some joy after all!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28344528215962461032015-05-17T09:57:24.288-04:002015-05-17T09:57:24.288-04:00Funny, coming after this rant by "anonymous&q...Funny, coming after this rant by "anonymous" but I found the puzzle easy at first...then frustratingly challenging...and I liked finding the poem hidden in the grid. So interesting that the comments kept returning to "What makes a poem a poem?" I love the way Williams pushed what a poem can do. And I agree with those who see that this poem pushes farther than the first version. The poetry part was utterly delightful for me. I didn't know the Mike Leigh film. So what? There are always bits of the Sunday puzzles that are tough for me. Usually modern songs or television references. For me...and obscure poem (which I have read) by a famous poet is far easier. I loved the clue for "eider" ..."What may make you duck down?" but I couldn't get it for the longest time. I kept thinking physically. Viva la difference. <br /><br />Among <br />puzzle's<br />obscure<br />clues<br />spring<br />sweet<br />oh<br />yes<br />again<br />Why<br />else <br />returnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22147190920301930092015-05-16T23:55:30.340-04:002015-05-16T23:55:30.340-04:00this poem/puzzle both awful. commenters supporting...this poem/puzzle both awful. commenters supporting it: mostly hideously self-aggrandizing, left wing fools, who find "art" anywhere its endowed with adulation of their uber-peers. undoubtedly same supported "PISS CHRIST" as avant- garde, genius art.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40222004154294279682015-05-14T23:20:27.043-04:002015-05-14T23:20:27.043-04:00Earlier when I first examined this puzzle I compla...Earlier when I first examined this puzzle I complained bitterly about 97A and 102A for being pop culture references that were major obstacles. However, once I googled them in order to get started, I discovered a brilliant puzzle that I absolutely loved. Almost no gimmees, and no clues to which I had any serious objection. Very numerous solutions that made me say aloud AHA, OHO, smile, or even LOL. Beautiful cluing that disguises the answer without distorting the definition. Very very satisfying. Now, as to the criticism that the theme doesn't in any way build upon itself, because the poem is just random words describing a tree in bloom and don't words don't form a coherent sentence or phrase. I actually think this is a strength. This puzzle has got to be solved on the non-theme clues, which are darned hard in themselves, and after you solve them, the theme appears last of all. I think the concept is brilliant! I still maintain that Stulberg could have come up with a better known family of Elliotts than those in the movie "ET" and found a better way to word in the theme word "sweet" without such an egregiously obscure reference to the 1990 thing. But looking beyond them, this is one fabulous puzzle. Great cluing and an unusual (if not unique) thematic concept. Well done Jacob!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-4504790236758051052015-05-14T21:06:18.907-04:002015-05-14T21:06:18.907-04:00I've only just begun this puzzle, but I can...I've only just begun this puzzle, but I can't get anywhere because of all the pop culture references that no doubt are gimmees to Rex. Well, it's not actually that they're so many, but that they take up key locations and some are quite long. (Devoting 11 squares to an obscure 1990 dramedy is ridiculous. Why does Stulberg think that if he watched a show, everybody else should have watched it too?) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28057312540855778152015-05-12T17:04:15.433-04:002015-05-12T17:04:15.433-04:00Hey, @Imfromjersey - "In A Station of the Met...Hey, @Imfromjersey - "In A Station of the Metro" is not by WCW. It is by Ezra Pound.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86856477800813977182015-05-12T03:53:00.209-04:002015-05-12T03:53:00.209-04:00Took forever- learned nothing. Kept switching bac...Took forever- learned nothing. Kept switching back from equally annoying Cryptic. Actually got WCW from LOS and i ♡ good poetry but not this Haikuey type crap. Used to wait with baited-breath for Sunday mag. Now, mostly take headache meds. ROLLING GAIT? ROPEWAY? ELIST? Ugh. As for ANGERERS, If you've never experienced a pathetic troll just tweet #gunsense. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90993068388436288002015-05-11T13:09:49.691-04:002015-05-11T13:09:49.691-04:00DBF (didn't bother to finish). Decided to watc...DBF (didn't bother to finish). Decided to watch paint dry. Awful puzzle.<br /><br />Best, JonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78399348615983146382015-05-11T09:40:36.100-04:002015-05-11T09:40:36.100-04:00@hugh --
Well said, no fun doing iti.
@GPO above...<br /><br />@hugh --<br /><br />Well said, no fun doing iti.<br /><br />@GPO above said that solving the puzzle is the payoff. <br /><br />True, it's satisfying having solved the puzzle, which I did, via the crosses. But the enjoyment of a puzzle is in the process. This for me was totally spoiled by Shortzes bad judgement of having a Sunday theme that most puzzlers would have NO knowledge of. <br /><br />Some commenters claim that anyone not familiar with Williams (and some of his work) have inexcusable educational gaps. Ex-CUSE me. I happen to have graduate school degrees from two of the finest schools in the country, but have never heard of him. My fields are engineering and business, and have had the basic required English courses in HS and undergrad college, that's all. Never heard of him. IMO, I'm far from alone here.<br /><br />To hell with you, Shortz!<br /><br />Billy Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87507856646755652882015-05-11T09:13:23.000-04:002015-05-11T09:13:23.000-04:00Totally respect any constructor who can fit a rel...Totally respect any constructor who can fit a relatively unknown (for me anyway) poem, author and title of said poem into a grid - an impressive feat. Sadly, impressive feats do not always result in a fun crossword - I had NO FUN AT ALL this week.<br /><br />I've enjoyed many puzzles that I can't finish or find more challenging than most - this was not one of them - not one AHA moment and only one minor chuckle - unlike Rex, I liked the cluing for IRONERS. <br /><br />Too many errors and cross overs in the grid to mention, but I steered myself wrong is so many places. My wife, who I met while she was pursuing her PhD in English Lit, helped me with the author but even that yielded nothing for me.<br /><br />Many of the clues with the circles were the easiest for me to get - some I thought a bit too straightforward and simple for a Sunday, but not knowing the poem, did not help me at all.<br /><br />I get a big kick out of learning new things, from the puzzles as well as from this great blog, and saying that this was a bad puzzle simply because I did not know WCW and I"m not a poetry fan is not fair. I didn't like the puzzle simply because I had no fun at all doing it. Again, I respect what it took to construct it, but there was no enjoyment for me in the solve. And honestly, the new knowledge that I did gain...eh...I'd be just as happy without it...<br /><br />If there was a collection of "Poetry Based Crosswords" for folks of that bent, this would be a gem...<br /><br />Have a great week all!Hughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02534114117788875905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-12667640396325280732015-05-11T09:04:33.943-04:002015-05-11T09:04:33.943-04:00I knew WCW but not this poem. I have to say I fou...I knew WCW but not this poem. I have to say I found the puzzle harder than usual and not a lot of fun. I'm beginning to see that only Sunday puzzles I really like are the ones with bad puns. We need laughs!<br /><br />Another WCW poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow" was just quoted on a TV show.... was it Mad Men? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48089924083254807082015-05-11T08:41:28.327-04:002015-05-11T08:41:28.327-04:00Maybe I'm a philistine, but I fail to see how ...Maybe I'm a philistine, but I fail to see how the author having a certain belief, especially something as inane as "the power of words over thought" (what does that even mean anyway??) can transform the second version from anything other than God-awful. I measure on the product itself.<br /><br />If belief counts, I want people to know I sincerely believe this comment is the next great American novel. ghkozenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079516599096885041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67130966190874660042015-05-11T07:31:04.210-04:002015-05-11T07:31:04.210-04:00I have to say I liked it!I have to say I liked it!Elle54noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83272571957999317152015-05-11T06:51:31.866-04:002015-05-11T06:51:31.866-04:00@Aketi, I hope your brother is recovering well fro...@Aketi, I hope your brother is recovering well from his procedure. I'm sure he's seen a lot of interesting things (comes with the territory, doesn't it?), but when it comes to identifying 'most common', you really have to look past individual experience and get into some overall statistics. The things I mentioned are the most common, but the potentially most severe consequences that should be at least be considered in such accidents.<br />btw, those snails' teeth are really tiny 'denticles' on a single radula (or tongue), so they don't actually bite, just rasp away. Even though those little teeth are made of a very hard substance, it doesn't take much to get away from them. Hope all that leaves you feeling better.<br />ps: zipline was mine too; much more satisfying.<br /><br />@dick swart, Williams in '54, eh? A whole contingent of grandniece/ nephews went there also; loved it and did well there.Leapfingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14243620614139990887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31421343602487895712015-05-11T03:07:44.649-04:002015-05-11T03:07:44.649-04:00I don't understand the choice of poem here. WI...I don't understand the choice of poem here. WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS is a fine choice of poet, but how about a poem that's actually accessible? This "second version" of his poem seems like an exercise in navel-gazing, more apt to alienate us philistines who like a little syntax in our poetry.<br /><br />There needs to be a better reason for this choice of poem than "that's the only one the constructor could fit in." Sometimes the constructor's skill lies in recognizing when it's time to scrap an idea, despite all the work that's gone in. (Over at Crossword Fiend this puzzle has the lowest average reader score I've ever seen, so I'm clearly not alone in feeling this way.)Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336260911834780345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7097709137135663192015-05-11T00:56:37.286-04:002015-05-11T00:56:37.286-04:00I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms o...I grow old, I grow old, I shall wear the bottoms of my trouser's rolled. I notice in the FAQ's that Rex explains that Eugene Maleska was Will Weng's predecessor, I felt that the Times puzzle went downhill when he succeeded Margaret Farrar. <br /><br />Concur with Dick S. on the Anaheim, etc. line, I religiously listened to Benny's show in '45 at age 10. Also for Dick, I was at The College of New Jersey (renamed Princeton U. in the 1870's) when you were at Williams, was exposed to the same poets - but won't go with the Cummings typing. <br /><br />I think WCW must have been taking some of his own prescriptions when he called this second version poetry. I understand that poetry need not rhyme, but as a sequence of words it should have some form of metrical form or emotional connection. Perhaps there is some in parts of this - but "among of", of doesn't follow among in any way. Perhaps it was meant as a mnemonic for the original. <br /><br />As to ROPEWAY, no way. No rope could support weight between mountains - even cable needs intervening supports.<br /><br />My basic objection to the modern Times puzzles is that there is too little vocabulary and too much filler from contemporary pop culture. I have to cheat with Google far too often, although I try to make it an indirect cheat by using a search on the basic subject. Here's to Margaret Farrar, may God rest her soul and bring us back someone of her caliber.Jon Murphynoreply@blogger.com