tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3057147990675522265..comments2024-03-29T04:46:57.646-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Literary Hun king / WED 5-29-13 / Classic model train brand / Biblical progenitor of Edomites / Producer of seven U2 albums / NFL team with mascot Swoop / Student grant named for senatorRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84669233879013848212022-04-11T00:32:33.040-04:002022-04-11T00:32:33.040-04:00Rex, even at this late date, please consider emend...Rex, even at this late date, please consider emending your post. I have no idea where you got the idea that SNOOZE / EXCESS and YODA / TACO are theme answers, but I find nothing in the puzzle to support your inference.<br /><br />I found the theme fun just short enough to make the puzzle fun. The answers are a little tricky due to the short components, but they don't entirely discombobulate their regions, and this add to the puzzle instead of blocking it. I enjoyed the fill, had trouble with a few entries outside my comfort zone, and learned a few tidbits.<br /><br />That said, I briefly considered shredding the grid rather than filling it: the clue at 1A is one of those "Man's name" style of fill-in that makes me respond with "I'm gonna punch you in the ____, Will Shortz!" A fill-in <i>must</i> have no more than a handful of responses, and be a common phrase across the target audience. There are simply too many possibilities, such that the puzzle begins with no clue whatsoever. Crossing with an onomatopoeia and a theme answer leaves us grasping at straws from, literally, square one.<br /><br />Additional note for other puzzles: when you clue with a foreign phrase, do not make it a handicap to know the language: the fill must be common and constrained in the original language, as well.Prunehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224476641730508311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55367293644000327242013-07-04T06:44:28.416-04:002013-07-04T06:44:28.416-04:00I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SOLVE TIME STATISTICS. ...I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE SOLVE TIME STATISTICS. <br />Is that 6 minutes aveage? I've never finished a ny times under an hour. I've never completed one without help. I usually know between 5 and 10 clues off the bat. I pick up a few more after googling. Then google a few more till completion.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06214261568913458912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82709029601391262772013-07-03T17:02:23.356-04:002013-07-03T17:02:23.356-04:00Once I figured out the "in" went in the ...Once I figured out the "in" went in the middle of the phrase and not in front, I had a lot of fun trying to guess the theme answers with no crosses and I got most of them right. Chick before BROOD, and it took too long for SliceS to become STYLES, which gets my vote for most clever clue. And of course, RUBoN.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31028406340642190392013-07-03T14:09:23.687-04:002013-07-03T14:09:23.687-04:00@syndy Thank you for the Ronan TYNAN link, wonder...@syndy Thank you for the Ronan TYNAN link, wonderful!<br /><br />@Rex -thanks for the Ellington Satin Doll clip, love it.<br /><br />LOGY seems very much in the language to me. Perhaps it's regional? BTW it's a hard G.<br /><br />TITI/RUBIN, Got lucky and guessed right. <br /><br />@DMG - Re Wimbledon, You got that right. Stranger and Stranger. I was impressed by the Lisicki interview during the rain delay. She's articulate and funny, and English is not her mother tongue. All my favorites are gone, but so are some on my love to hate list.<br /><br />Really enjoyed this, maybe because since I finished with no writeovers it seemed easy.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14125611594485406842013-07-03T13:36:28.037-04:002013-07-03T13:36:28.037-04:00Anther ToTI monkey here! But, I have seen TITI b...Anther ToTI monkey here! But, I have seen TITI before, and should have remembered it. My usual spelling jinx left me with architect INaGO. Thus I came here to be enlightened as to which DaN came form the Tower! Maybe next time I'll remember it's "i" not "a".<br /><br />As a general comment, I really dislike cross referenced clues that send one hither and thither. As a result, I tend to ignore them when solving. In this case, they weren't necessary, but I obviously missed some of the fun! <br /><br />@Ginger: Just about given up on Wimbleton- it gets stranger and stranger. Lisicki seems a force for the future. Next week?DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23899979248345976422013-07-03T11:55:34.172-04:002013-07-03T11:55:34.172-04:00This was actually a pretty easy puzzle, and quite ...This was actually a pretty easy puzzle, and quite enjoyable to solve, but is rated "challenging" because sorting out the 6 phrases took some time, which speed solvers don't like. Pity them.<br /><br />That said, I made the RUBON/TOTI error as well. A TOTI sounds like a perfectly good monkey to me. TITI is too suggestive... rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35935416272606466162013-07-03T10:58:45.231-04:002013-07-03T10:58:45.231-04:00Seems to me that if so many good solvers get tripp...Seems to me that if so many good solvers get tripped up on the T_TI/RUB_N natick--and count me among those--that's a severe defect of construction and should really have been fixed--or edited, Will!<br /><br />However, any grid that contains my beloved E! A! G! L! E! S! EAGLES! is bound to get a FERVENT thumbs-up from me. That plus: incredibly, I never knew the mascot's name! So thank you, Gary, for Swoop!<br /><br />"Like sand in the hourglass, these are the Days of our Lives." That, folks, is a simile (note the presence of the word "like"). If you simply CALL something something else, e.g. "Hourglass sand is time," that's a metaphor--and I agree, a pretty poor one. In sum: "like" or "as" = simile; "is" = metaphor.<br /><br />You really should see the ridiculous picture of this captcha house address. You would not believe it. Ladies and gentlemen, I have found the worst photographer in the world! And the "artist" who strung out these letters has GOT to be on PCP. Geez, guys, have half a heart!spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17959186568882075222013-05-30T21:56:43.333-04:002013-05-30T21:56:43.333-04:00Good, so we agree that it is a metaphor, because a...Good, so we agree that it is a metaphor, because as you admitted at 11:12am, it is a simile.<br /><br />Whether it is a <i>good</i> metaphor doesn't seem relevant to this board. If the clue were "Ben Affleck movie" and the answer were GIGLI, would you have complained?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07568113286634863754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43442182984319947532013-05-30T21:47:02.866-04:002013-05-30T21:47:02.866-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07568113286634863754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28519899283441417202013-05-30T13:12:01.560-04:002013-05-30T13:12:01.560-04:00@Nigel @Gareth Bain @okanager - Also: GRAY, not G...@Nigel @Gareth Bain @okanager - Also: GRAY, not GREY; and every OR word, not OUR, as in HONOUR, NEIGHBOUR. Ah, such travails!alsoCanucknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13198765799267806782013-05-30T00:25:50.412-04:002013-05-30T00:25:50.412-04:00Symbol, not metaphorSymbol, not metaphorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-22625166189279069062013-05-29T23:22:07.501-04:002013-05-29T23:22:07.501-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. 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 6:00, 6:12, 0.97, 33%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 8:36, 8:09, 1.05, 67%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 12:00, 10:00, 1.20, 88%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:50, 3:49, 1.01, 50%, Medium<br />Tue 5:10, 4:52, 1.06, 66%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 7:11, 5:49, 1.23, 93%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85093565650295978282013-05-29T22:42:59.229-04:002013-05-29T22:42:59.229-04:00A visual METAPHOR or a METAPHOR used in graphical ...A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sands_of_time_(idiom)" rel="nofollow">visual METAPHOR</a> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hourglass#Symbolic_uses" rel="nofollow">METAPHOR used in graphical user interfaces</a>, but definitely a metaphor, even in English 101. Wikipedianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75872684083704673232013-05-29T22:26:37.561-04:002013-05-29T22:26:37.561-04:00Keith H
I have to disagree with you on this one. ...Keith H<br /><br />I have to disagree with you on this one. Sand in an hourglass is a symbol for time and yes it was used as a bad simile for the passage of the days of our lives, but it is not a metaphor for time... at least not a good one. <br /><br />Here are some metaphors for time:<br />Time is a river. <br />Time is money.<br />Time is a prison. <br /><br />You would fail English 101 if you wrote time is sand in an hourglass. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-84942010982378474362013-05-29T22:13:48.217-04:002013-05-29T22:13:48.217-04:00Just realized that RUBIN could be clued as Robert ...Just realized that RUBIN could be clued as Robert Rubin, the Treasury guy also... Would have brought this puzzle up one letter grade in my eyes.JIMMY SCHMIDTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32297897894912128502013-05-29T22:11:23.579-04:002013-05-29T22:11:23.579-04:00I also fell victim to RUBoN/ ToTI.
An obscure pri...I also fell victim to RUBoN/ ToTI.<br /><br />An obscure primate just isn't enough to distinguish between RUBON and RUBIN, which would both satisfy that clue. <br /><br />RUBIN should have been clued as "Flaunt repeatedly to an opponent, as in a victory" or something similar.<br /><br />Otherwise, not a bad puzzle.JIMMY SCHMIDTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13850317729185187582013-05-29T21:56:38.207-04:002013-05-29T21:56:38.207-04:00Late start but finished nary a Google. One error:...Late start but finished nary a Google. One error: ad RUBON, not RUBIN, making the monkey a TOTI not a TITI.. Could have Googled TOTI but resisted. An excellent Wednesday! Is to give moral guidance to EDIFY? Never <br />Heard the word so used.LaneBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77352312341607098022013-05-29T20:25:39.539-04:002013-05-29T20:25:39.539-04:00Oops, make that @Milford not #Milford, that would ...Oops, make that @Milford not #Milford, that would rude!chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-74810868065232185672013-05-29T20:24:05.382-04:002013-05-29T20:24:05.382-04:00#Milford @Gil I.P. - Hop on over, there's plen...#Milford @Gil I.P. - Hop on over, there's plenty of room.chefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68895561658917461312013-05-29T20:07:30.525-04:002013-05-29T20:07:30.525-04:00@R.alph - I like the phrase "in the wild"...@R.alph - I like the phrase "in the wild"...<br /><br />Agree that STYLES was great.<br /><br />@lms - thx for pointing out the symmetry,<br /><br />I liked WENTOPOT and FERVENT.<br /><br />INIGO and TYNAN were just mean. Never heard of LOGY<br /><br />Shour out to me, as my nieces sometimes call me TITI. (Diminutive of Tita, which is a childish attempt at Tia Tereza).<br /><br />Welcome to the new folks.<br /><br />Thanks to Mr. Cee - I really really liked the idea - it was a game within a puzzle, and I was able to figger 'em all out.<br /><br />Oh - and in the software business, we use "smoke and mirrors" all the time - it's not DECEIT!! It's just a vision of the ideal... ;)<br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45998509438904679642013-05-29T19:00:29.126-04:002013-05-29T19:00:29.126-04:00Re: the LOGY discussion--fans of classic Simpsons ...Re: the LOGY discussion--fans of classic Simpsons episodes might recall <a href="http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?episode=s02e06" rel="nofollow">this one</a>:<br /><br />Lisa: Mom, Bart is on a diet of complex carbohydrates. Steak will make him <b>logy</b>.<br /><br />Marge: What won't make him <b>logy</b>?<br /><br />Lisa: Oatmeal.<br /><br />Marge: Oatmeal?<br /><br />Lisa: A racehorse eats oats before he or she wins the Kentucky Derby.<br /><br />Homer: News flash, Lisa. Bart is not a horse. Eat your steak, boy.Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336260911834780345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86868886829686351732013-05-29T18:47:33.345-04:002013-05-29T18:47:33.345-04:00Nigel-- I too am a proud Newfoundlander (CFA but h...Nigel-- I too am a proud Newfoundlander (CFA but here long enough I think). You beat me to the Logy Bay geography lesson!Thoracichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16330466807313325340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63125106318003692712013-05-29T18:35:20.650-04:002013-05-29T18:35:20.650-04:00(and I had ZED before ZEE too. Sigh.)(and I had ZED before ZEE too. Sigh.)Gareth Bainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17770425154034935768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44668837310113164032013-05-29T18:34:28.377-04:002013-05-29T18:34:28.377-04:00@okanaganer: That's nothing... "Spring mo...@okanaganer: That's nothing... "Spring mo." I put in SEP, E.V.E.R.Y. T.I.M.E. (You'd think I'd have learned by now...)Gareth Bainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17770425154034935768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-1823621685768096512013-05-29T18:26:37.626-04:002013-05-29T18:26:37.626-04:00Standard substitutions Canadians must make for the...Standard substitutions Canadians must make for the NYT puzzle:<br />"Canadian gas" = ESSO not PETROCAN.<br />"Last of 26" = ZEE not ZED.<br />"Numbered I.D." = SSN not SIN.<br />"Retirement fund" = IRA not RRSP.<br />...etc, etc.okanaganerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082227619755246335noreply@blogger.com