tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post31159331840529331..comments2024-03-28T06:11:29.690-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Cybertruck maker / FRI 11-5-21 / Jimmy of high-end footwear / Life-form led by Optimus Prime in the Transformers movies / Cabbage alternative / Automotive amenity that offers an annual Santa Tracker / Midcruise milieu / Protest movement launched in 2011 familiarly / Acorn by another name / Cousin of a firth / Paraguay's largest city after Asuncion / Big adventure through the concrete jungle Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23497773818704170692021-12-10T19:41:52.374-05:002021-12-10T19:41:52.374-05:00Late to the party. Loved this one. Joseph Greenbau...Late to the party. Loved this one. Joseph Greenbaum is a new constructor. His debut NYT puzzle was in August. This is his second. Well done.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78368894720879735812021-12-10T17:19:44.462-05:002021-12-10T17:19:44.462-05:00I like the long downs and acrosses here, but strug...I like the long downs and acrosses here, but struggled and needed help with some of the other stuff :<br /><br />ROD and DRUG as clued; wanted ODDball instead of ODDDUCK and its 3 Ds ; CHOO and BALOO, an interesting pair; and wanted yawn instead of SLOG.<br /><br />Despite my ADOS (“Troubles"?), this puzzle is neither a yawn nor a SLOG; it's a pretty solid Friday.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />leftcoasternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43754321699585725152021-12-10T14:02:19.997-05:002021-12-10T14:02:19.997-05:00SLOW vs. SLOG for a few moments. Taking a little ...SLOW vs. SLOG for a few moments. Taking a little break once again works wonders. I noticed I was not only seeing STARS, but this constructor really likes sports cars - they are in a STARing role here.<br /><br />Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for a rideDiana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56613879295028957372021-12-10T12:16:23.055-05:002021-12-10T12:16:23.055-05:00Right away I noticed SUPERSTAR ONSTAR STARDOM, AND...Right away I noticed SUPERSTAR ONSTAR STARDOM, ANDSO OHSO, LAYOPEN OPENSEA. Maybe DONTOVERTHINK IT, PUT IT away? These POPULAR dupes are less than stellar ANDSO ITs OPEN to criticism. But IT was NOTA SLOG.rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87852765045985808822021-12-10T11:58:57.622-05:002021-12-10T11:58:57.622-05:00POPULAR PLAYER
DON’TOVERTHINKIT ROMEO, you ODDDUC...POPULAR PLAYER<br /><br />DON’TOVERTHINKIT ROMEO, you ODDDUCK, MAKELOVE to me,<br />crawl UPON TOPO’ me like SO, AND I’ll LAYOPEN, you SEA?<br /><br />--- ESTE MINORCA TESLA<br />Burma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11462665395361826802021-12-10T11:11:17.360-05:002021-12-10T11:11:17.360-05:00Starting in on this, I felt I was opening a time c...Starting in on this, I felt I was opening a time capsule. Wow, man, CASSETTEPLAYER, [Jesus Christ] SUPERSTAR--and then MAKELOVENOTWAR! Took me back. (Note: I listed those in order of my solving them, not chronolog-whatever.)<br /><br />Maybe just getting more used to late-week clues, but this played very easy for me, vis-a-vis Friday. The long stuff just filled itself in with only a few letters, so the hardest part was some of the short fill where they used weird clues to beef up the difficulty. That mostly didn't work here. A single writeover that took "nanoseconds" to fix was square 20. Working the NE, I had ____STIMATE, so quite naturally I stuck an E in there before seeing SUPERSTAR.<br /><br />Speaking of all those STARs, I never even noticed till I came here. I don't know why this no-repeat "rule" existed in the first place; it never bothered me--nor did it today. Star schmar. Call it a theme if you want.<br /><br />No DOD today...except to say that my SPOUSE is in the grid--and she's the DO, not of my day, but of my lifetime. So there. Birdie.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9798519129023804732021-11-06T22:12:46.306-04:002021-11-06T22:12:46.306-04:00Usually i complain about names. Today it was obsc...Usually i complain about names. Today it was obscure geographic references. After finishing, I found many of the clues not really leading to the answers, a stretch maybe. Not a fan for today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64446430278756148172021-11-05T21:46:41.377-04:002021-11-05T21:46:41.377-04:00oh yeah, and i laughed typing in OAK NUT, still re...oh yeah, and i laughed typing in OAK NUT, still remembering much ADO over NUTLETS from some months back. stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14309261340110993880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72742910229288987472021-11-05T21:44:32.896-04:002021-11-05T21:44:32.896-04:00sea of white, followed by chipping away. got SUPER...sea of white, followed by chipping away. got SUPERSTAR early on and thought it looked sparkly right smack dab down the middle. alas, the rest was rather...dry but still satisfying in a way because i always feel good when i can complete the EOW puzzles. and since i finished this one on my own, i thought for sure i would come here and read about how easy it was. was surprised but soothed to find it rated medium-challenging, and also in good company with the one area that nearly made me give up - IOU/SOIL/OHSO/OUTS. <br /><br />i knew they were going for something to do with money when it came to cabbage, PLUS i couldn't think of any three letter varieties of leafy greens, nor any three letter synonyms for toupees. but still couldn't crack the code for so long. thought LETS for excuses, thinking it may be the verb, meaning "allows" in a way. but OH_L wasn't gonna do it. <br /><br />thought lunch options was "TURKEY oR ham" but the A was in the wrong place. but surely OR was involved! surely! but no. i mean, "TURKEY WRAPS" isn't really "options" now is it. <br />waiter: what'll you have today? <br />customer: i don't know, what are my options?<br />waiter: turkey wraps.<br />customer: ...<br />customer: ...i guess i'll have the turkey wrap then. <br />reminds me of a bit on pee-wee's playhouse where pee-wee was the waiter and captain carl (played by the late great phil hartman) was the customer. he'd try to order things like "the juicy steak" and whatnot, but all that pee-wee really had was one thing: peanut butter and jelly. <br /><br />ANGORA before ALPACA, even though to this day i still have an alpaca scarf made by my highschool environmental science teacher who owned alpacas. the only wool that was actually soft and didn't bother me to wear. really nice stuff. <br /><br />my mom had a big button (like a pin, i mean) in her car for ages with a wireframe approximation of a globe on it. in capital letters it read, PEACE IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS. <br /><br />been watching (and loving, as usual) american crime story, and this season is "impeachment", covering the lewinsky scandal from her perspective. (and the real monica is a producer on the show.) anyway, that was convenient for the YALE LAW clue, although i did type in COLLEGE first. <br /><br />would rather have sopapillas or fried ice cream over CHURROS, but c'est la crossword. <br /><br />thanks to @JC for the NOELS explanation, others for the NAT explanation, and @Lewis for his great thoughts on OVERTHINKING IT. stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14309261340110993880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17865104983675595212021-11-05T20:49:42.403-04:002021-11-05T20:49:42.403-04:00Not as enticing as yesterday's, but it had som...Not as enticing as yesterday's, but it had some good points, like the 14- and 15-letter lovelies ripping right through. I too wound up solving the IOU corner last (was not familiar with that use of "cabbage"). SOIL and URBAN HIKE didn't bother me at all. I think URBAN HIKing is how you might describe my sojourns around the city when we were living in London, and I still think it's the best way to explore a city -- on foot -- if it's safe enough. <br /><br />I really would have liked "eggcorn" in place of OAK NUT (but obviously it won't fit). An eggcorn is when you mishear a word like "acorn" (pretend you're just learning the English language), but you invent a meaning for it that seems plausible within the context, like the acorn is an egg-corn: a hard thing that might one day germinate like an egg. Another is mishearing Alzheimer's disease as "old-timer's disease". <br /><br />That diagonal game of @Tom T looks like an amusing diversion. Might you say Shakespeare was a SLY POET? <br /><br />Enjoy the weekend! <br /><br />dbyd 0<br />yd 0<br />td 0<br />TTrimblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58368191971813413442021-11-05T20:22:23.296-04:002021-11-05T20:22:23.296-04:00A twangy take on a famous "Air".<a href="https://youtu.be/nNx7fh1SKuM" rel="nofollow">A twangy take on a famous "Air".</a>Joe Dipintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922691457886440325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71261687447686365672021-11-05T20:06:40.161-04:002021-11-05T20:06:40.161-04:00Same as Rex, just wasn't on the same wavelengt...Same as Rex, just wasn't on the same wavelength with the puzzle at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61828024954458420662021-11-05T18:35:25.601-04:002021-11-05T18:35:25.601-04:00And here I thought Tom T's diagonal word today...And here I thought Tom T's diagonal word today would be our old friend NENE.kitshefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10014225555838850414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38739334008837190022021-11-05T18:32:28.637-04:002021-11-05T18:32:28.637-04:00Churros are not dessert. They are “merienda” or ev...Churros are not dessert. They are “merienda” or even snacks. Andreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12827499840959595550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35988592530498400222021-11-05T18:07:59.525-04:002021-11-05T18:07:59.525-04:00It was tough getting through this puzzle, but now ...It was tough getting through this puzzle, but now at 6 PM I finally finished. My wife thinks I spend too much time on puzzles. Maybe she's correct. Even so, no panning from me about today's puzzle.<br /><br />To those who are discussing the definition of "air." Have you ever heard Bach's "Air on a G string"? Not what he called it, but who cares?<br />pmdmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27685297599840169262021-11-05T17:56:28.350-04:002021-11-05T17:56:28.350-04:00Great Puzzle. Rex doesn't seem to like crosswo...Great Puzzle. Rex doesn't seem to like crossword puzzles.JeffEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01620999316684829616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-30023965882468940362021-11-05T17:03:24.200-04:002021-11-05T17:03:24.200-04:00@Nancy – well, certain intersections are dicey, bu...@Nancy – well, certain intersections are dicey, but I do a lot of walking in Manhattan and Brooklyn both, and I don't find crossing the street to be an "adventure" as a rule. My main irritation is when the corners get flooded from a heavy rain and you have to figure out how to negotiate the ocean-sized puddles to get across. Joe Dipintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922691457886440325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35001407232268807922021-11-05T16:52:43.000-04:002021-11-05T16:52:43.000-04:00I immediately threw in LIBRARY where YALELAW ended...I immediately threw in LIBRARY where YALELAW ended up. Crimson Devilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03665174292516725433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24460216822861078352021-11-05T16:48:52.789-04:002021-11-05T16:48:52.789-04:00@Lewis: I've read both of the Niall Williams b...@Lewis: I've read both of the Niall Williams books, and I, too, highly recommend them.bookmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16215548445882097765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31936128215339398652021-11-05T16:18:41.859-04:002021-11-05T16:18:41.859-04:00@Nancy-Yikes! I am scuttling my plans to experien...@Nancy-Yikes! I am scuttling my plans to experience any URBANHIKE immediately.<br /><br />This is probably a good thing, since I'd have to go to Boston, which is two and a half hours away.pabloinnhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967477079504866917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-65226398334597201962021-11-05T16:09:31.629-04:002021-11-05T16:09:31.629-04:00First time through still the puzzle was a sea of w...First time through still the puzzle was a sea of white. Eventually solved it. That is my kind of puzzle. Very gratifying.Wellmethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09945041237162943370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49105945588309002862021-11-05T15:57:43.360-04:002021-11-05T15:57:43.360-04:00@Joe Dipinto -- I CHORTLED mightily over your far-...@Joe Dipinto -- I CHORTLED mightily over your far-fetched URBAN HIKE *conversation*, but then thought maybe it wasn't as far-fetched as I first thought. (Read Joe's (1:10) post before continuing, everyone.) Because crossing intersections <b>is</b> an adventure in NYC -- a big, dangerous, you-could-die-with-the-very-next-step-you-take adventure. And while you live in Brooklyn and I live in Manhattan, I'm sure it's exactly the same there.<br /><br />It's the bikes and the electric bikes and the skateboards and the electric skateboards and the scooters and the motorized scooters and the kiddie scooters filled with Kamakaze kiddies who don't know how to steer. All going against the direction of the traffic and/or through the red light/and or between cars (where you can't see them coming) that have stopped for a red light. Now add to that the rotting asphalt from too many ice puddles and the deep potholes from too many trucks and, now, in the last maybe 5 years, the steep ramps with bumps. The steep ramps with bumps are a fairly new curb/crosswalk horror that suddenly sprouted up everywhere like weeds and were obviously put there to torment me in my dotage. <br /><br />So your *couple* discussing the "adventure" of URBAN intersections is actually right on target. As long as one is not hiking along the edge of a cliff and as long as one is not in an area with grizzly bears or poisonous snakes, you are a lot safer on a rural hiking trail than trying to get across the street at, say, Columbus Circle.Nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16737377749030219974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-8481658181705108942021-11-05T15:38:31.524-04:002021-11-05T15:38:31.524-04:00@JC66
Thanks. That is a usage I have certainly n...@JC66<br /><br />Thanks. That is a usage I have certainly never heard for the word air, but yeah, there it is in Merriam-Webster. I still cannot help but feel like it is not an exact match — Merriam-Webster emphasizes it being the melody of a song rather than the song itself, while Noel is defined as “a Christmas carol”, and carol is defined as “a religious folk song or popular hymn, particularly one associated with Christmas”.<br /><br />Perhaps I am being obtuse — it wouldn’t be the first time — but bah, humbug, I still hare the clue.LenFuegonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-17881816755320690982021-11-05T15:35:35.459-04:002021-11-05T15:35:35.459-04:00@Aelurus 12:16. You’re right. I guess I undertho...@Aelurus 12:16. You’re right. I guess I underthought that.egsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17439054465313994020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67683131183025706952021-11-05T15:18:18.807-04:002021-11-05T15:18:18.807-04:00@Wanderlust – Although I like the Carpenters arran...@Wanderlust – Although I like the Carpenters arrangement, I always thought they were an odd fit for that song, considering the subject matter – the original title was "Groupie", which is what the person singing the song is. In the original by Delaney & Bonnie, she sings "I can hardly wait to sleep with you again" rather than Karen's tamer "...be with you again". But the whole lyrical conceit never made sense to me – wouldn't a groupie probably just go find another guitarist in another rock band instead of pining away for this dude?<br /><br /><a href="https://youtu.be/L8vdCkzymZs" rel="nofollow">Maybe one of these guys is in town and available.</a><br /><br /><br /> Joe Dipintohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07922691457886440325noreply@blogger.com