tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3131424076186557623..comments2024-03-29T01:22:33.864-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Limnological study — FRIDAY, Oct. 16 2009 — Chateaubriand accompaniment / Floppy headgear / 1997 Bell Atlantic acquisitionRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62241466951004268752009-11-21T08:12:14.891-05:002009-11-21T08:12:14.891-05:00Two fun Friday puzzles in a row. Can't wait ti...Two fun Friday puzzles in a row. Can't wait till next week... Finishing this one while trying not to nod off in bed last night was a pleasant surprise.<br /><br />Dreamed about the Hana Highway... (which I've never traveled, except from above in Google Maps...)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08491852040969338431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77316017911621987642009-11-21T00:01:07.186-05:002009-11-21T00:01:07.186-05:00lovewindytown: God bless and keep you. May your th...lovewindytown: God bless and keep you. May your therapy be successful!slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-23080120172825162802009-11-20T22:44:19.974-05:002009-11-20T22:44:19.974-05:00I want to thank you all....this puzzle was very di...I want to thank you all....this puzzle was very difficult for me today. I had 5 hours of chemotherapy today and attempted the puzzle after...should have done it before.lovewindytownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04537255859432480580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9599341257079797192009-11-20T22:01:16.143-05:002009-11-20T22:01:16.143-05:00I want to thank you all....this puzzle was very di...I want to thank you all....this puzzle was very difficult for me today. I had 5 hours of chemotherapy today and attempted the puzzle after...should have done it before.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44666031597073041362009-11-20T14:03:09.789-05:002009-11-20T14:03:09.789-05:00Oh, one last thing. HANA was a gimme for me. On ou...Oh, one last thing. HANA was a gimme for me. On our honeymoon trip to Maui my wife and I drove the Hana highway. She wanted to get back to the condo in time to see ER, of all things, so we were pushing the limits coming back, and all the twisting and turning at speed turned her green. She decided that not throwing up all over the rental car was a better choice than seeing the season opener of ER. Good choice since we decided very quickly that season that the show had jumped the shark. Amazingly it went on for another 10 seasons after that.Singernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42287597672787890512009-11-20T13:59:32.080-05:002009-11-20T13:59:32.080-05:00From syndication land:
I solved the puzzle mostly...From syndication land:<br /><br />I solved the puzzle mostly while sitting in my doctor's waiting room. I had a hard time getting traction at first because the entire topside wouldn't reveal itself to me. From Tuxedo Junction on down, it wasn't too awfully hard. BEARNAISE SAUCE came pretty quickly, OUR GANG was a gimme, and I guessed right at RAUL, just becaus3e it is a fairly common Spanish name and fit the crosses of USENET and SLASH. TENERIFE was a gimme - the site of one of the world's worst airline accidents. I wasn't sure how to spell it, but knew what it was right away. Amazingly I had trouble with SHAMU because for some reason I thought it was four letters long - don't ask me why. I suspected FLANK STEAK, but started with Ovid instead of LIVY. When that got fixed, things got a little better. BTW I did start with moo instead of BAA, but that corrected itself quickly. Last answer was PEKINESE. Don't know about alternate spellings of the dog's name, but had alternate spelling for aghast (agast), but tekinese made to sense at all. I would rank it as medium-challenging to challenging for me, primarily because of the top.Singernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-3927644003761389422009-10-17T01:35:34.352-04:002009-10-17T01:35:34.352-04:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35115061&postID=3588389571383499624&isPopup=true" rel="nofollow">7/30/2009 post</a> 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 8:10, 7:03, 1.16, 82%, Challenging<br />Tue 9:49, 8:38, 1.14, 79%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 12:30, 11:49, 1.06, 65%, Medium-Challenging<br />Thu 13:05, 18:51, 0.69, 3%, Easy<br />Fri 29:58, 25:42, 1.17, 85%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:30, 3:45, 1.20, 87%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:45, 4:25, 1.07, 75%, Medium-Challenging<br />Wed 5:50, 5:48, 1.01, 57%, Medium<br />Thu 6:22, 9:08, 0.70, 2%, Easy<br />Fri 15:00, 12:03, 1.25, 93%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-78047807159446751282009-10-17T01:09:26.523-04:002009-10-17T01:09:26.523-04:00andrea diva michaels:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!...andrea diva michaels: <br />HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88254128462694590542009-10-17T00:46:03.629-04:002009-10-17T00:46:03.629-04:00Could not finish. I spent the day cooking for a d...Could not finish. I spent the day cooking for a dinner party, but even if I had spent the whole day puzzling I would have been unable to do it. <br /><br />@Ulrich, et al -- I did a quick scan of a couple of style manuals and didn't find any discussion of the issue you raised, which surprises me. I try to avoid the problem in my own writing, along the lines you suggested. Maybe there are style manuals that say it is acceptable to take the foreign word in its nominative form no matter where it shows up in an English sentence. I will keep my eyes peeled on this one going forward (I mean in the world of style manuals and academic writing).Clarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70877326134663140012009-10-16T20:42:07.639-04:002009-10-16T20:42:07.639-04:00This was an relatively easy Friday for me. I'm...This was an relatively easy Friday for me. I'm storing it in my ego locker, against the next 20 times that a puzzle slays me and Rex airily announces that he polished it off in three minutes. That's pretty much my ratio of smart to stupid. So baby, I am dining out on this one.Robert of San Franciscohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10197396256929590508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15625183027533819082009-10-16T20:36:29.847-04:002009-10-16T20:36:29.847-04:00A solid Fri. and a medium for me but thats only be...A solid Fri. and a medium for me but thats only because I knew some of the harder stuff e.g. TUXJUNC, TENERIFE, ADELIE.<br /><br />@sanfranman -- The tour we took to HANA was one of the best I've been on. It's a great place to visit.<br /><br />My bride says Pam is helpful in keeping cakes from sticking.jae in Santa Fenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90394508101833393792009-10-16T20:35:42.769-04:002009-10-16T20:35:42.769-04:00Thank goodness this was rated challenging by Rex a...Thank goodness this was rated challenging by Rex and most of the solvers! The South worked for me, thanks to the BEARNAISE SAUCE, my first entry (once in a while, foodiness pays off). The North was like the great Sahara desert, a place to get lost. <br /><br />Between yesterday and today, I'm ready to fly to Hawaii, where I can travel to HANA, and find RED CORAL jewelry...foodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13052189131129098616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-71006927775947294112009-10-16T20:17:56.261-04:002009-10-16T20:17:56.261-04:00This killed me. Almost as soon as I started, I re...This killed me. Almost as soon as I started, I realized I would never finish. So I googled a bit, then Rexed. I read the writeup and then worked the puzzle. And still had problems. But that's what I expect from KT (I won't re-link to my guest blog, but it was a KT, and it killed me). Yes, I should stick it out and learn to do better on the hard ones. I did not.<br /><br />@The Cake<br />I am formerly a (semi)professional cook, and still I struggle to ice a cake properly. There's a reason pros rely so heavily on fondant. In the end, if it tastes good, it is a success (IMHO). My favorite frosting is closer to a chocolate sauce; you pour/ladle it on and then refrigerate to set. My favorite chocolate cake is so good I rarely even try to frost it. I bet Sandy did not complain (Happy belated B-day, BTW, Sandy).treedwellerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12634227778469664442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77413171399450110172009-10-16T18:56:52.251-04:002009-10-16T18:56:52.251-04:00@Andrea:
B
I
R
T
HAPPY
D
A
Y
with a triple-lette...@Andrea:<br /><br />B<br />I<br />R<br />T<br />HAPPY<br />D<br />A<br />Y<br /><br />with a triple-letter, triple-word combo!Stanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02681342234536407419noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61613286397031305512009-10-16T18:17:10.717-04:002009-10-16T18:17:10.717-04:00@ meg, Thanks, I can't explain how my brain is...@ meg, Thanks, I can't explain how my brain is wired but I'm glad someone else could envision the neural pathway. Rod Steiger was perfect for the role but he can't sing like Rafe.<br />3 & outTwo Ponieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896743444873087885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88527821335790043082009-10-16T18:13:03.131-04:002009-10-16T18:13:03.131-04:00chefwen: What a coincidence! I have an Auntie Goog...chefwen: What a coincidence! I have an Auntie Google! Wonder if they're somehow related?slypetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537129206516720012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90197202229579017952009-10-16T17:40:47.886-04:002009-10-16T17:40:47.886-04:00@Rex
Here's what you do about the cake...
(Ki...@Rex<br />Here's what you do about the cake...<br /><br />(Kidding!!!!)<br /><br />Well, at least you didn't have a chef fake-yelling at you the whole time!<br />I am chocolate with envy for your lucky wife!!!<br />And I had a double pathetic moment yesterday...ordering my OWN bday cake<br />(At least my mom has offered to pay for it) and then trying to design a crossword for it...<br /><br />I needed an 11-letter parallel word/phrase for SAVOY-TIVOLI (the dive bar where I'm holding a little gathering) so I just went with WHATTHEF*CK, which neatly sums up my ambivalence!<br /><br />@Plantie Bea<br />Happy BDay (Bomber? Day)!!!!!!!!!!<br />There must be something to all of us being Libras...<br />maybe the indecision? Is it SEA or RED CORAL? Is it AGASP or AGAST<br />(silent, ok...missing H)<br /><br />I swear you can hear a slight T in Christmas... and I had quite a nice chat with myself last night if the H was/were silent.<br /><br />Had to Google NEISSE and RAFE and SETHE (Kept trying to put Shug or Sug or whoever that was from "The Color Purple") Puzzle made me SE(E)THE.<br />(Actually not really, but FAIL here too.)<br /><br />Thought JEEPERS went nicely with OURGANG.<br />Went thru misspelled versions of MENNONITE and MARONITE, and EREMITE, without ISRAELITE dawning on me for a while. Oy.<br /><br />Also, I had USANET, thinking it was like AOL or an early Well thing. Not an early adopter here...<br /><br />@Rex<br />also, isn't TAXI from Greek in some way? I mean, "Bon Voyage" in Greek is something like Kalo Taxidis! <br />(I've just looked up the etymology and it's from a London cab's "taximeter" which is from old French and German which was from a Latin word based on a Greek word. So nevermind nde/joon/whoever...)<br /><br />For those who need an extra Friday fix, Tony O and Patrick B puzzle in the WSJ today...andrea jeepers michaelsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-72862892455274852562009-10-16T17:21:57.917-04:002009-10-16T17:21:57.917-04:00@ two ponies:
I figured out the Rafe/Jud Fry conn...@ two ponies:<br /><br />I figured out the Rafe/Jud Fry connection, at least in my brain. Jud was played by Rod Steiger, who looks a bit like a character on the Andy Griffith Show called Rafe Hollister. Rafe was not a bad guy, just scraggly looking, but he could sing!Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964374453128401532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2484675381620334072009-10-16T16:22:28.821-04:002009-10-16T16:22:28.821-04:00Thanks for pointing me to the Natick Principle. N...Thanks for pointing me to the Natick Principle. Now I get it.Babsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18197022089859841092009-10-16T16:14:54.152-04:002009-10-16T16:14:54.152-04:00PS Did anyone else want TOUQ instead of TAMS?PS Did anyone else want TOUQ instead of TAMS?Smittyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939710008630124836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36051210412935371952009-10-16T15:51:41.372-04:002009-10-16T15:51:41.372-04:00Forgot to say happy b-day to Plantie bea. I'll...Forgot to say happy b-day to Plantie bea. I'll make you a cake and drizzle Bearnaise sauce over it. Yummmmchefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24609066490498978872009-10-16T15:40:20.761-04:002009-10-16T15:40:20.761-04:00Rex, in addition to Macs suggestion, put a dusting...Rex, in addition to Macs suggestion, put a dusting of cocoa powder over the buttered parchment paper wich makes it easier to remove after baked and adds a nice layer of flavor.<br /><br />Re: puzzle, totally started off on the wrong foot by putting in Medium rare for 17 across. Wrong!<br />When I couldn't get any downs off of that had to take it out and start over. Had low in for BAA and lad in for BUB. Plumber boy got SHOWER head. Finally finished up this morning after sleeping on it. Won't lie, a smattering of Uncle Google assisted also.<br /><br />I don't know if they still do, but they used to sell T-shirts in HANA that said "I survived the road to Hana"<br /><br />Happy Birthday, Plantie Bea!<br /><br />BEARNAISE SAUCE = Triple Yumchefwenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03999206352243329280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-66197322919491343402009-10-16T15:31:11.511-04:002009-10-16T15:31:11.511-04:00Midday report of relative difficulty (see my 7/30/...Midday report of relative difficulty (see my <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35115061&postID=3588389571383499624&isPopup=true" rel="nofollow">7/30/2009 post</a> for an explanation of my method):<br /><br />All solvers (median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Fri 29:50, 25:42, 1.16, 84%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Fri 15:20, 12:04, 1.27, 93%, Challenging<br /><br />Now I feel <i>real</i> good about my Google-less solve time today. I anticipate a truly humbling experience with Saturday's puzzle.sanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5779130673594907462009-10-16T15:30:16.972-04:002009-10-16T15:30:16.972-04:00Tough puzzle!! but enjoyable.
Always made London...Tough puzzle!! but enjoyable. <br /><br />Always made London broil with flank steak in St. Louis. Never heard of the cut of meat called London broil til I moved to Connecticut.<br /><br />Love Bearnaise sauce!!<br /><br />I Have a necklace made out of red and black coral.<br /><br />The cake wrecks site is pretty funny.<br /><br />And lastly @Rex I won't give you any more tips on cake making. I'm sure it was delish!!chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-57519594434700962102009-10-16T14:25:21.917-04:002009-10-16T14:25:21.917-04:00For a while I was afraid this was going to be the ...For a while I was afraid this was going to be the first-ever grid in which I couldn't place EVEN ONE answer. Eventually, NARNIA drifted into consciousness, and thereafter it was slow (very slow) but steady all the way to the end. On reading the blog, I was sad--but not devastated-- to see that the CORAL was supposed to be RED and not SEA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com