tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post2747627722528198612..comments2024-03-28T06:29:33.354-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Political writer Bai / FRI 4-6-12 / Grandnephew in 1960s TV / Six-time Tony winner of 1984 / Figure on front of Olympic medals since 1928 / Home to school of pre-Socratic philosophersRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63401626387072184102012-08-08T03:54:42.380-04:002012-08-08T03:54:42.380-04:00I just found this puzzle stuck in a pile of papers...I just found this puzzle stuck in a pile of papers, and had a good, medium-easy time solving it. Just want to mention that the comments about not knowing who Matt Bai is are pretty funny, given that he's the chief political correspondent for, um, the New York Times. He's had huge pieces in the Sunday magazine.Sharon NYCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60022175126330377112012-05-12T01:50:55.291-04:002012-05-12T01:50:55.291-04:00@Diri - actually most of us up here in the attic o...@Diri - actually most of us up here in the attic of North America live within a hundred miles of the US border so we keep up with what's happening stateside. Also, since we only have 1/10 the population of the US, it's sorta like the elephant and the mouse - we gotta stay alert!Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90612172994730001172012-05-11T23:43:25.329-04:002012-05-11T23:43:25.329-04:00"Steve Nicks, asking the musical question, I ..."Steve Nicks, asking the musical question, <i>I Can't Wait</i>."<br /> - Dave Letterman, repeatedly, way back whenAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72867175050513708882012-05-11T20:06:32.827-04:002012-05-11T20:06:32.827-04:00Any Friday puzzle I finish in less than an hour ca...Any Friday puzzle I finish in less than an hour cannot be called "challenging", even as in "easy - challenging", but this one can be called "fantastic". Great cluing with just the right amount of misdirection produced a lot of fun. Hand up for TOWer and APHId for a while, and SNArlS persisted for too long. No complaints from this syndi-solver.<br /><br />@Waxy - Billy Sol ESTES, really? Most citizens of the USA (aka "Americans") don't remember him, how come a Canadian (aka not an "American") knows about him? And if we share the same continent how come we are not all "Americans", or at least "North Americans"?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18947615908242113112012-05-11T19:54:20.514-04:002012-05-11T19:54:20.514-04:00ANN rule was my first gimme, but I think she's...ANN rule was my first gimme, but I think she's more well known here in the northwest. I've seen her interviewed on occasion about current criminal trials. From there I just kept chipping away. <br /><br />Had most of the same glitches already mentioned, SNArl, jAb, etc. Really like BLOWAFUSE and GOBANANAS. This puzzle was chock full of good stuff, with nary a clunker amoung 'em.<br /><br />@SIS - hope you're feeling better!Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55374365595883325292012-05-11T19:46:19.089-04:002012-05-11T19:46:19.089-04:00Hi Syndilanders and TGIF!
Just had a big thunder...Hi Syndilanders and TGIF! <br />Just had a big thunderstorm with marble-sized hailstones, which seemed to somehow aid my concentration and solving. Had had a tough time getting into this puzzle before the storm, anyway. <br /><br />Same hold-up for me as Rex had on 31d -- I also thought it would be "___games". Somehow, the western half seemed easier, with more reasoned clues and fill than the eastern half, but that's just me. <br /><br />Happy to have achieved an error-free solve on a pretty challenging puzzle.Lola505https://www.blogger.com/profile/09249427833942985450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25725889773958573872012-05-11T15:59:38.298-04:002012-05-11T15:59:38.298-04:00Thought FUBAR had replaced SNAFU decades ago - won...Thought FUBAR had replaced SNAFU decades ago - wonder if it's made the NYT xword as yet?<br /><br />One flub: almost went bananas sticking with PLAZA (as in toll) at 56A for much too long along with its vertical partner AZOSE. And who's this Rob Estes guy at 63A. anyway? Way prefer Billy Sol Estes as in convicted LBJ crony.Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-89313444387473394682012-05-11T15:39:28.446-04:002012-05-11T15:39:28.446-04:00Great puzzle, worth a little struggling. My, not ...Great puzzle, worth a little struggling. My, not unique, hang-up was wanting a person at 37A, and with ge in place, I figured first name was George, despite having auxfoll in place! Just kept thinking with a name like that, I should remember him. Had to answer the phone, and when I came back, fresh eyes saw the solution. <br />For awhile I thought a tower was a quaint place, but crosses solved that. Only other real slow down was snarl for snafu, which should have been a gimme for an army brat. <br />All in all, a good Friday workout!DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26906043628434882482012-05-11T12:57:08.680-04:002012-05-11T12:57:08.680-04:00@evil Doug Numbers apparently don't lie, at l...@evil Doug Numbers apparently don't lie, at least here. <br />I found the puzzle relatively easy (I don't time myself), and sanfranman provided the proof. Redundantly, I add my agreement that this was an A-one puzzle. The only slowdown I had came at 64A where it was a toss between emitted and ejected, and then I thought it was a mis-spelled egected--oh.<br />Wonderful combination of the straightforward and the tricky.<br /><br />I think Opie's great aunt's name is Barbara, but they just call her Aunt B.rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73713077923894467772012-05-11T11:39:02.962-04:002012-05-11T11:39:02.962-04:00Hey Sheldon with the two doctorates and a self-pro...Hey Sheldon with the two doctorates and a self-proclaimed high IQ: I can beat you at arm wrestling.big dumb guynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-932019980841690822012-05-11T10:44:16.216-04:002012-05-11T10:44:16.216-04:00A ridiculously easy puzzle for those of us with tw...A ridiculously easy puzzle for those of us with two doctorates and a very high IQ. I can understand the difficulty for those who are not me or those who don't completely understand the big bang theory.Sheldonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63342862051084721202012-04-11T08:13:31.552-04:002012-04-11T08:13:31.552-04:00And...(language nerd alert)....
'folles' ...And...(language nerd alert)....<br /><br />'folles' (as in 'La cage aux...') is the French feminine for 'crazy,' thus implying that the crazies therein are women (compare 'foux' i.e. crazy [men] or 'folie(s)' craziness(es)<br /><br />In reference to a comment (far, far) above: I'd caution that English has far more (randomly) silent letters than French.<br /><br />That is all :)TXinBrooklynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13429067405491400532012-04-11T08:04:41.644-04:002012-04-11T08:04:41.644-04:00'Dog it,' 'dogging it' is pretty c...'Dog it,' 'dogging it' is pretty common in the South. I also hear it in the sports media with reference to a teammate not giving his all (e.g. 'I can't believe Randy Moss would go out there and dog it but it sure looked like he gave up on that route.')<br /><br />Meh.TXinBrooklynnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87627582118616836882012-04-06T22:51:57.949-04:002012-04-06T22:51:57.949-04:00Hand up for wanting DEAD MOUSE - at least, that...Hand up for wanting DEAD MOUSE - at least, that's what my cats think is a present worthy of incredible praise. <br /><br />NIKE was the Greek goddess of victory.<br /><br />GULP took a looong time to get.<br /><br />Challenging for me, but finally finished.JenCThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18290169184354765840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61342725404359454322012-04-06T22:07:54.831-04:002012-04-06T22:07:54.831-04:00This 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 6:56, 6:50, 1.03, 61%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 8:47, 8:52, 0.99, 55%, Medium<br />Wed 12:37, 11:50, 1.07, 73%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 16:58, 18:58, 0.89, 30%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 23:15, 25:01, 0.93, 38%, Easy-Medium<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:39, 3:40, 1.00, 50%, Medium<br />Tue 4:42, 4:35, 1.03, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 6:19, 5:53, 1.07, 75%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 9:58, 9:19, 1.07, 68%, Medium-Challenging<br />Fri 11:24, 12:23, 0.92, 39%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43475816199429893062012-04-06T22:01:17.220-04:002012-04-06T22:01:17.220-04:00@Anon@9:43...
oops - jackj just beat me to it!
I&#...@Anon@9:43...<br />oops - jackj just beat me to it!<br />I'll just add...<br /><br />Rex calls them "literal" clues.<br />Another recent example: "Napoleanic leader" - CapitalN - because the word starts with the letter N.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57762840417322735212012-04-06T21:57:03.179-04:002012-04-06T21:57:03.179-04:00Anonymous@3:32PM and 9:43PM-
The clue is a tricky...Anonymous@3:32PM and 9:43PM-<br /><br />The clue is a tricky play on the word "C-omedi-C" which has two letter "C's" in its spelling, hence "Comedic duo?". <br /><br />Whenever you see a "?" after a clue, beware, because it won't be a straight answer.jackjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699305265544975575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13640662440274733042012-04-06T21:43:58.483-04:002012-04-06T21:43:58.483-04:00Well, okay, but how does that relate to the clue? ...Well, okay, but how does that relate to the clue? Why are two Cs a comic duo?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63402630532452779322012-04-06T20:25:46.898-04:002012-04-06T20:25:46.898-04:00You're welcome, Mr. NothMYCUPOFTEA!You're welcome, Mr. NothMYCUPOFTEA!JohnnyMaohttp://www.maohaus.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40578737083104091412012-04-06T17:54:34.804-04:002012-04-06T17:54:34.804-04:00Hi everyone,
Thanks for the kind words about toda...Hi everyone,<br /><br />Thanks for the kind words about today's puzzle, despite the less-than-stellar NE corner. :)<br /><br />See y'all next time --<br />MNMike Nothnagelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62973082902057002132012-04-06T17:34:31.045-04:002012-04-06T17:34:31.045-04:00Totally flummoxed by the NE. Spent fully half my ...Totally flummoxed by the NE. Spent fully half my solve time there, with The rest of the puzzle done. Three TOUGH clues on the long downs and a stack of obscurities crossing them... That is Saturday material. Still, so satisfying when I finally got em...Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01366620471331747531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69746359992834092442012-04-06T16:58:38.007-04:002012-04-06T16:58:38.007-04:00Everything but NE fell pretty quickly, with a few ...Everything but NE fell pretty quickly, with a few writeovers: mailman/MAILBAG, Aphid/APHIS, doughs (?!)/DOGSIT, snarls/SNAFUS, whitesale/WHOLESALE. Wanted some form of "excavate" for 35D until the light came on. No idea who 33D ___ Bai was/is, nor 22A ELEA, nor 26A ELY, nor 6D ANN, but got them from the crosses. <br /><br /> Gave up on NE, went out and worked in the yard all morning, had lunch, came back to it and it all fell into place in a couple of minutes. Funny how that works.lawprofnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15845342713602011672012-04-06T16:25:28.578-04:002012-04-06T16:25:28.578-04:00"Protagonist Alex is an "ultraviolent&qu..."Protagonist Alex is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britain. As with all luck, his eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, Alex learns of an experimental program in which convicts are programed to detest violence. If he goes through the program his sentence will be reduced and he will be back on the streets sooner than expected. But Alex's ordeals are far from over once he hits the mean streets of Britain that he had a hand in creating."IMDBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54044103802072245682012-04-06T16:00:58.260-04:002012-04-06T16:00:58.260-04:00I stared at 15D for a long time because I couldn&#...I stared at 15D for a long time because I couldn't think of the main character in "A Clockwork Orange". Felt a little silly when I finally figured it out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64250367850151141162012-04-06T15:55:16.026-04:002012-04-06T15:55:16.026-04:00@M&A 3:21 - Thanks for the translations. I thi...@M&A 3:21 - Thanks for the translations. I think the cat is claiming everything for himself. Very rare that his food bowl is empty. I saw a funny cartoon showing a man telling his cat to get off the table, chair and counter but the words are visually going in one ear and out the other. Around the room are cloud shaped callouts with the word "bed" pointing to said table, chair and counter. I had to laugh.<br /><br />Only had to refresh the captchas 5 times before my borg eyes could read them.Meownoreply@blogger.com