tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2450022062521661190..comments2024-03-29T07:01:08.827-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: SATURDAY, Dec. 6, 2008 - A.V. and N.V. (Bat portrayer / Town on the IJsselmeer / Posthumous Pulitzer winner of 1958 / Relief pitcher Robb)Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86569607493527599062023-12-30T20:14:25.308-05:002023-12-30T20:14:25.308-05:00This was a ton of fun. 3 little pigs got me some ...This was a ton of fun. 3 little pigs got me some momentum then woosh woosh... to a standstill in the east. Spent as long on that side as the rest of the puzzle; needed a shot in the arm and hey presto!!<br />Only dnf was mho/tho. Agree with Anon earlier that Thos. would have been less brutal.Siannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41367359876794397772009-02-05T10:04:00.000-05:002009-02-05T10:04:00.000-05:00I put "botox" in where "shave" should have gone an...I put "botox" in where "shave" should have gone and really messed up the Northeast Corner. The center filled in easily, so I started looking for missing choir sections in the clues. My husband suggested that the Falcons were in Palo Alto, and we wondered if one of the other clues had something to do with the Sopranos TV show. It wasn't until the puzzle was entirely filled in that the hint finally made sense.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11388625213446706697noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63898821849699425322009-01-11T11:43:00.000-05:002009-01-11T11:43:00.000-05:00Please check your facts before you go indignantly ...Please check your facts before you go indignantly proclaiming that the puzzle was in error:<BR/><BR/>"The city of Edam was founded around a dam crossing the river E or IJe close by the Zuiderzee now known as the IJsselmeer." (<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edam,_Netherlands#History" REL="nofollow">Wikipedia</A>)<BR/><BR/>rpRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15504937612937281492009-01-11T11:31:00.000-05:002009-01-11T11:31:00.000-05:00FYI - EDAM is on the IJmeer NOT the IJsselmeer.FYI - EDAM is on the IJmeer NOT the IJsselmeer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-20502345184109274212009-01-10T14:47:00.000-05:002009-01-10T14:47:00.000-05:00From syndication land: If there's one thing I've l...From syndication land: If there's one thing I've learned from reading Rex's blog, it is to recognize the effort and style of the constructors (and today's certainly deserve kudos). The paper I use for the puzzle (Anchorage Daily News) has just started naming the constructors for weekday puzzles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-52765156920477118622009-01-10T12:56:00.000-05:002009-01-10T12:56:00.000-05:00this was the easiest saturday i've ever done in my...this was the easiest saturday i've ever done in my life...less than 15 minutes!The Health Senseihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13296840039948289864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-33133832989573460002008-12-08T12:13:00.000-05:002008-12-08T12:13:00.000-05:00Like Rex and probably many others, I got TENORS al...Like Rex and probably many others, I got TENORS almost instantly. I then lost most of my time trying to parse TENORS as TEN <I>or</I> S. It wasn't until I had bruted my way to the THREE LITTLE PIGS and SACHA BARON COHEN answers that I figured it was TEN "or"s.<BR/>-------------------------------<BR/>@@Andrea Carla Michaels<BR/><BR/>@Ashish<BR/>your pal reminds of that great Letterman Oscar routine...<BR/><BR/>"Narayan Venkatasubramanyan, Uma...Uma, Narayan Venkatasubramanyan"<BR/>-------------------------------<BR/>Letterman's routine was actually based on a <I>New Yorker</I> short story, "Yma Dream" by Thomas Meehan, involving increasingly long first name introductions between Yma Sumac, Ava Gardner, Abba Eban, Oona O'Neill, Ugo Betti, Ona Munson, Ida Lupino, Aga Khan, Ira Wolfert, Ilya Ehrenburg, Eva Gabor, and Uta Hagen. The famously fastidious editor William Shawn obtained permission from everyone named.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39022846945897721592008-12-07T20:45:00.000-05:002008-12-07T20:45:00.000-05:00@Alan: you're missing the point. After inserting O...@Alan: you're missing the point. After inserting OR, the clue becomes "Famous ORson".pochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08861361305246858918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22832502147798077902008-12-07T19:07:00.000-05:002008-12-07T19:07:00.000-05:00Thanks to Green Mantis for the "buzz" about clamOR...Thanks to Green Mantis for the "buzz" about clamORssantafehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09469065957627688378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-81808360903839065822008-12-07T13:27:00.000-05:002008-12-07T13:27:00.000-05:00Having gotten Mr. Welles, I became convinced that ...Having gotten Mr. Welles, I became convinced that 63 Across was (Carol) Reed, the director of 'The Third Man',<BR/>and it took all day before I realized I was adding 'RO', not 'OR'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8156311625071788892008-12-07T05:50:00.000-05:002008-12-07T05:50:00.000-05:00acme, you Kill me! we'd have to call you Acmev.acme, you Kill me! we'd have to call you Acmev.Shanti11https://www.blogger.com/profile/03397942491057116387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25741450888643582932008-12-07T04:22:00.000-05:002008-12-07T04:22:00.000-05:00@MACif VENKATASUBRAMANYAN was Dutch, He would woul...@MAC<BR/>if VENKATASUBRAMANYAN was Dutch, He would would probably spell it<BR/>VIJNKKIIJUTASJBRJJAMEERIIJAN, right?<BR/><BR/>(I'm obsessed! I wonder if he's single and there's still a chance to become Andrea Carla VENKATASUBRAMANYAN)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39457041124156569032008-12-07T02:39:00.000-05:002008-12-07T02:39:00.000-05:00-Mis-spelled ONOMATOPOEIA, ended up with LADO and ...-Mis-spelled ONOMATOPOEIA, ended up with LADO and AWL (which I confused with a screwdriver re: head turning).<BR/><BR/>-South-central kicked my behind (or my REAR, if you prefer). The L in the cross of 54A and 45D led me to EUCLID , and I was led farther astray witht he clue to 50A. I kept trying to think of record companies that had a star motif on their album sleeves and liner notes, and I wasted quite a bit of time with that. Not having heard of THALES or MHOS didn't help.<BR/><BR/>-For some reason EDAM was almost a gimme. I guess my brain connects strangely-spelled rivers and cheese.<BR/><BR/>-I kept trying to fit "Georgia Dome" or "Atlanta" in 53D. They didn't cooperate.<BR/><BR/>All-told: I loved it. The theme was fun, the answers were common but the clues were tough (the best combo, I think), and seeing a 15x16 grid was fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28116278873963612542008-12-07T02:32:00.000-05:002008-12-07T02:32:00.000-05:00@Orange,And that, in essence, is the beauty of Dut...@Orange,<BR/><BR/>And that, in essence, is the beauty of Dutch. You could have been right! <BR/><BR/>My experience is that Dutch words are either over-voweled or over-consonanted.<BR/><BR/>@Mac, maybe the pindakaas/chocolate combo is Groningen specialty? Although I think that I saw people doing that in Amsterdam. Perhaps they were visiting from the north. <BR/><BR/>It may be that diving for sunshine is found in all cloudy climates. I frequently saw the same thing during an extended stay in Scotland. I was there in the March-April. Whenever the temperature broke 50 degrees people would peel off all their layers. I'd still be bundled in all of my sweaters.Hungry Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101748048713015724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36678050192413673772008-12-07T00:19:00.000-05:002008-12-07T00:19:00.000-05:00This was a lot easier than yesterday's. A lot. I...This was a lot easier than yesterday's. A lot. I did it on my iPhone on a plane, for heaven's sake. Interesting theme and some interesting fill (ONOMATOPOEIA) but also some clunkers, too, like TOE polish and PAH. Pah? Bah, maybe, but pah?<BR/><BR/>@ Noam: if you had a Mac, you could do this: Ω and this: Ū and even this: with a simple keystroke. (insert smug mac face here)Doc Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12540112168511893896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89957110153192807632008-12-06T23:36:00.000-05:002008-12-06T23:36:00.000-05:00@Orange: too bad that such an interesting-looking ...@Orange: too bad that such an interesting-looking word only means: the dike that closes off....<BR/>It closed off the Zuiderzee, made it into the IJsselmeer (IJssel lake, fed by the river IJssel).<BR/><BR/>@Rex: Terry Gross spoke at our son's graduation from Columbia Journalism School this June. To my (and many others') delight she completely forgot or ignored there were little kids in the house. And, yes, she spoke of the Bill O'Reilly interview.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21918235129696435172008-12-06T23:25:00.000-05:002008-12-06T23:25:00.000-05:00@SCOTUS Addict: You wrote "The same friends took m...@SCOTUS Addict: You wrote "The same friends took me for a drive along the top of the afsluitdijk, so yes, technically I did see the IJsselmeer. I had the most wonderful herrings that day." I read that one word as the "asdfghjkl" row of the keyboard.Orangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12433254398377357737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42008179588721785072008-12-06T23:14:00.000-05:002008-12-06T23:14:00.000-05:00A most amusing scene was when Borat discovers a lo...A most amusing scene was when Borat discovers a lot of love at some DC gay festival. Is this not 'social commentary, satire, or parody?'fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17210816334452197122008-12-06T22:46:00.000-05:002008-12-06T22:46:00.000-05:00Well Wade, you're a Texan and I'm more accultured ...Well Wade, you're a Texan and I'm more accultured to a British sense of humour. As I said, we disagree, yet I find most of your points quite valid. When I watched it for a second time at home on DVD, I didn't laugh so much. <BR/><BR/>In your last sentence, I at first thought you were referring to the USA, not Khazakstan, however it's spelled, which amuses me and I hope does you.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39644155958140155992008-12-06T22:32:00.000-05:002008-12-06T22:32:00.000-05:00@plantiebea e-mail me and we can discuss plants a...@plantiebea e-mail me and we can discuss plants and foodchefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27631361390422723462008-12-06T22:25:00.000-05:002008-12-06T22:25:00.000-05:00Fergus, what's the point of Borat? It's not socia...Fergus, what's the point of Borat? It's not social commentary, not satire, not parody. The target isn't pomposity, hypocrisy, small-mindedness, and it isn't silliness for silliness's sake. Its targets are only the particular people humiliated. Maybe you can make a case that the rodeo scene is meant to spoof the narrow-mindedness of red-state folks, but (a) the rodeo people show themselves to be genuinely warm and welcoming people and (b) even if that were the point, it's pretty old hat. Exposing three racist frat guys as three racist frat guys is pretty small game. I disagree that he tipped people off to the ruse. His treatment of his hosts at the dinner party in Atlanta or Charleston, I can't remember where, was despicable. The only way the movie could be defended as being anything but trash is as a case-study in SBC's masochism. For somebody to go into those situations (again, assuming it's not set up), risking real bodily harm, is very disturbing. Otherwise it's just nihilism. I've watched some pretty rauncy stuff, and there's only one other movie I can think of that I cringed all the way through and felt utterly disgusted by on a very visceral level, and that was some porn-exploitation flick somebody rented at a party I went to in high school called "I Spit On Your Grave."<BR/><BR/>Rex is right that SBC is a funny, smart, astute guy--Ali G, or the little I saw of it, was brilliant. That made Borat even more disappointing, and also the fact that there was no vehement outcry against the movie except from the country he ridiculed, which was the mildest of its offenses.RodeoToadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03374112725461339067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41627684575570099562008-12-06T22:21:00.000-05:002008-12-06T22:21:00.000-05:00Hello all, I am thinkin I have to tune into the la...Hello all, I am thinkin I have to tune into the late show here.<BR/><BR/>I was cheesed off as I never ever heard of asking for nodil and I had no idea what an rdi was. Then I figured out I was wrong. Wasting 20 minutes of grumbling and composing what I might say or think of saying when I got here.<BR/><BR/>I am of the clan NOBorAT. <BR/><BR/>I did know MHOS.<BR/><BR/>I had YUGO but remembered seeing a picture of an armored LADA somewhere. Maybe a James Bond movie.<BR/><BR/>This one did take forever. <BR/><BR/>@bill from NJ welcome home.<BR/><BR/>@Noam D thanks for your post.<BR/><BR/>88+ post very good score for the puz-o-meter (think Queen for a Day and the applause-o-meter)<BR/><BR/>Good night alldkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17317008233459295376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30486501835652478822008-12-06T21:56:00.000-05:002008-12-06T21:56:00.000-05:00... and the reason why I didn't love this puzzle w...... and the reason why I didn't love this puzzle was that ONOMATAPOEIA, one of my favorite of all the faculties available to descendant apes, was not featured more centrally nor Clued very effectively.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13607397635374662242008-12-06T21:55:00.000-05:002008-12-06T21:55:00.000-05:00Well, my first time to get to comment, on one of m...Well, my first time to get to comment, on one of my favorite Saturday puzzles in recent memory. And one which was a struggle for me.<BR/><BR/>I usually solve in syndication, and jumped ahead only because of my success at today's syndicated puzzle (five weeks ago's STEERTS-YAW-OWT). Having quickly cracked the theme on that one, leading to only my second or third ever sub 10-minute Saturday, I thought I'd jump ahead.<BR/><BR/>What a fall back to earth! I got TEN-ORS relatively quickly, but like others, tried forever to take OR out of the answers rather than the clues, so remained stumped on the theme.<BR/><BR/>I finally capitulated, completely stuck in the middle-western portion of the puzzle (central OR State?), where I had ON A LARK for ON A DARE, which unfortunately corresponded to OSLO for 34-across which I'd mistakenly filled in at 37-across (D'oh!), given that I don't know how to spell ONOMA(O)TOPOEIA.<BR/><BR/>But, having just done the syndicated puzzle, with its reversals, MHOS fell quickly, though I thought it inelegant (should have been SMHO) until I came here and learned it's an actual word?!?<BR/><BR/>Still, today's was a solid challenge, and the theme doubly satisfying for first stumping with the -OR removal, and then the clue vs solution stage. That was as satisfying an 'Aha!' moment as I've had in a long while.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57047229889592187502008-12-06T21:50:00.000-05:002008-12-06T21:50:00.000-05:00Haven't seen Borat yet, but want to, though I tend...Haven't seen Borat yet, but want to, though I tend to wince and look away when awkward situations happen on screen. I heard SBC interviewed by Terry Gross and thought he was really smart and interesting. Hers was one of the few Borat interviews (if I remember correctly) that he did as himself and not Borat.<BR/><BR/>rpRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.com