tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post326422100255214309..comments2024-03-28T20:26:11.908-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: 1997 voice role for Meg Ryan / SAT 12-1-12 / 1234 singer 2007 / Dutch financial giant / Belladonna lily / Desert gullies / Emulated Tiresias / Eponymous container / Dutch financial giant / Decahedron-shaped die to gamerRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85517870807812160572013-01-07T18:26:25.035-05:002013-01-07T18:26:25.035-05:00First time ever that Rex rated what I thought was ...First time ever that Rex rated what I thought was a sure "Easy" as difficult. Not sure I've ever had an easier time ... WIDOWS and ARBOL dropped right in and it was off to the races, even though I was bone tired when I started.<br /><br />Didn't really care for WRITLARGE (never seen that used in my life), but other than that, a nice puzzle.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17631093655277281682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13952837299041716192013-01-06T15:28:44.803-05:002013-01-06T15:28:44.803-05:00SW was by far the easiest for me. Monotreme was a ...SW was by far the easiest for me. Monotreme was a gimme - got if off the R. Credit for that goes to having kids that watch "Phineas and Ferb" all the time.<br />I've never heard of DTEN, but I know D12. (See, e.g.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZB0VjkoCT8. Warning - not safe for work or children.) No idea WTH FEIST is though. OK, just watched the video. My gawd that's awful.<br />@ Spacecraft 10:10 AM - ARBOL is beyond the pale for a Saturday, but "avostrepatoot" or whatever it was is fine for a Monday? The only puzzle I DNFed in the last two weeks was Monday's. Maybe it just depends on what language you took in school...<br />In any event, got to love a puzzle with no French. Thanks, Mr. Pahk - keep up the good work.Anonyratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38778108157370960762013-01-06T01:33:45.519-05:002013-01-06T01:33:45.519-05:00Loved LOSTASTEP and GOESDEEP which are quite appro...Loved LOSTASTEP and GOESDEEP which are quite appropriate for the NFL's wildcard weekend. Can't say the same for TTYL, DTEN, MADLIB and ELUL which, changing sports, are out of my strike zone. Had also hoped that the Beasts of the East were a college football or basketball squad - never heard YETIS given that particular description.<br /><br />Many WIDOWS WALKS still extant in coastal New England homes once probably lived-in by certain harpooners who were not INUIT. Has always been a PIPEDREAM of Mrs. Waxy that we should retire to such a house in Maine. <br /><br />As always, Joon's puzzle was the real deal, a worthy Saturday challenge even if in the end I had to resort to Google to complete the Pac N-W. Even a DNF can feel like a victory. Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76931176488865228072013-01-05T22:05:16.007-05:002013-01-05T22:05:16.007-05:00@dmgrandma-- probably your iPad is automatically c...@dmgrandma-- probably your iPad is automatically connecting you to the "mobile" version of the blog, which doesn't have the tabs you need. Scroll aaaall the to the bottom and click on "show web view" (or something like that--i am typing on my phone at the moment and navigating at all is difficult. )<br /><br />Hope this works for you. Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35303938545216553782013-01-05T21:46:50.998-05:002013-01-05T21:46:50.998-05:00Am I the only one that saw low-esteem as what the ...Am I the only one that saw low-esteem as what the Icman Cometh characters expressed? Hung on to that way too long.LobgBeachLeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-11909708073003711892013-01-05T21:13:00.870-05:002013-01-05T21:13:00.870-05:00Loved this puzzle which I almost finished. For me...Loved this puzzle which I almost finished. For me this is a good thing on Friday or Saturday. In fact, I almost finished yesterday's puz too. So I'm feeling pretty good.<br /><br />Did not know MONOTREME, and thank you Rex for making it the WOTD. Wanted platypus, but, no. Had T-YL but couldn't parse it. Love the Lab directive, (wish mine would), and the clue for GOES DEEP.<br /><br />I'm a pilot, so PAPA was easy. Strongly agree with the decision on Virginia v. Sibelius. It proves that we may actually be a civilized society, that takes care of each other.<br /><br />Nice of Joon to stop by, and though he probably wont see late syndiland comments, Thanks for a fun Saturday.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75493905694871166232013-01-05T16:50:41.396-05:002013-01-05T16:50:41.396-05:00@JC66--the explanation for the Feist video being s...@JC66--the explanation for the Feist video being so lame is that she's from Canada??!? I'm wounded ;-}<br /><br />Thought the puzzle was fine, though groaned at PONES and the clue for PECAN. Oh, and at both the answer INAPIE and its clue "Where blackbirds may be baked?"<br /><br />Really liked SOMETHING FIERCE (which is in the language) and WRIT LARGE (ditto). <br /><br />Nice of @Joon to stop by and straighten out some misconceptions. Red Valerianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04638265039015470938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68216517322191668092013-01-05T15:10:54.907-05:002013-01-05T15:10:54.907-05:00Not an easy day for me, my SW is a mess with writ...Not an easy day for me, my SW is a mess with write-overs. I wanted "onoff" or the reverse for 60A. Was stumped when platypus wouldn't fit. No idea who Deloces ruled, so tried Jedi which made Jiff my spread. ACH!!! Also trouble in the NE. Never heard the expression LOSTASTEP and couldn't figure anything LOST that could cross with REwrAp, and it didn't help that I thought the city is BANGladORE, which, of course, didn't fit. Enough said!<br /> <br />@Waxy. I appreciate your advice, but the problem is that the address you gave, the one I've used "forever", no longer brings the site with options across the top, it just brings the real today's puzzle. No help to Syndilanders. I thought maybe it was my ancient, original iPad, but got the same result on a brand new one at the Apple store. So, I stand by my advice, if you have somehow latched on to the "real" page, hang on to it!DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-88153260488720157912013-01-05T14:59:50.404-05:002013-01-05T14:59:50.404-05:00All my astrologic signs are aligned, my karma very...All my astrologic signs are aligned, my karma very positive, and I must go out and buy a lottery ticket...<br /><br />Two days in a row I have dashed, with no curse words, through Friday and Saturday. Today my "seed answers" were BANGALORE, FEIST, TITAN, PACTS, WIDOWS, INUIT, and MONOTREME, all downs, and all of which were pretty well just written in, no crosses. So despite not knowing the Hebrew month, the DTEN thing, the Roman (or Greek)individuals, this was quick. Again, I'm not saying it was "easy", although SanFranman's statistics say it is, but I just flew through it. rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34337751821533214512013-01-05T10:10:56.748-05:002013-01-05T10:10:56.748-05:00I solved this, no errors or help--but I still don&...I solved this, no errors or help--but I still don't know how. Stuff I knew: TITAN, MADLIB, INAPIE, TTYL. Pretty much everything else I had to work at. It astounds me that @Sanfranman's group--AS A GROUP--rated this "easy." Let's just say I don't want to play Jeopardy! against those guys, let alone our worthy constructor.<br /><br />WRITLARGE was mentioned by several as a "favorite." It's certainly no favorite of mine. Who, post-Elizabethan, says that? Today, "writ" is something involved in a "court determination." It will most likely be writTEN. That, along with OFW (obscure foreign word) ARBOL, go beyond the pale for reasonable crossword entries, IMO.<br /><br />That they were necessary to complete this grid, which in large part is brilliant, gives them a grudging pass. Nice, hard but fair, clues--loved the one for PIANO--made it a satisfying solve. One writeover: My WR GOESlong instead of DEEP, but he gets there. Now let's hope he makes the catch. Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79306413393845433762012-12-04T15:45:38.873-05:002012-12-04T15:45:38.873-05:00@joon
Ha! I sit corrected!!! Thought I was shedd...@joon<br />Ha! I sit corrected!!! Thought I was shedding light, but actually cast some shade! Was going on comments you'd made before about pop music and not seeing a ton of films.<br />Obviously no maligning intended, but I am sorry!<br />Plus got you to she'd even more light on this tough but fabulous puzzle...so there's that!<br /><br />And I can relate not wanting to see something again less it spoils it being one of your faves...<br />I'm this way about the film "Amerika" an Italian/Albanian film I've seen but once but would put in my top 5 of all time!<br /><br />Anyway, thankyou @dirigonzo for alerting me to @joon's late post and giving me a chance to apologize to Joon (and clarify!) my 10:02 pm post!Acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77433038540491854852012-12-03T15:10:36.600-05:002012-12-03T15:10:36.600-05:00andrea, you malign me. that FEIST clue was indeed ...andrea, you malign me. that FEIST clue was indeed mine; i'm very familiar with her because i was incessantly exposed to those ipod nano commercials with that "1234" song that seemed to run something like 5 times during every NFL game during the 2007 season. i was actually quite sick of the song, the video, and FEIST herself by then; either the years have whittled away my distaste, or i've fallen victim to some variant of stockholm syndrome.<br /><br />as for SAM MENDES? i said at the time that i saw it that <i>american beauty</i> was my second-favorite movie ever. it left a very strong impression on me, and would probably still rank in my top 5. (i actually suspect i wouldn't like it nearly as much if i watched it again, which to me is good reason not to watch it again.) and it was his directorial debut--very impressive. what i've caught of his subsequent work has also been outstanding. i noticed a while ago that his name is tailor-made for the bottom row of a grid, so it was actually a seed entry here. when OBAMACARE/WRITLARGE/SAMMENDES came together like that, i knew i had hit upon something good.<br /><br />as for the clue and the oscar year ambiguity, i'm afraid that was a deliberate trap; the best director award for 1998, presented in early 1999, was SPIELBERG (same # of letters, same S) for <i>saving private ryan</i>.<br /><br />thanks for the kind words, everybody (or at least everybody who was successfully able to access the puzzle).Joonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07825085755390339668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83066062162873736322012-12-02T21:25:16.298-05:002012-12-02T21:25:16.298-05:00Haha, @Dirigonzo - Yes, I DID know that then, now ...Haha, @Dirigonzo - Yes, I DID know that then, now that you mention it, but funny that it didn't shake my conviction here that TITAN was the biggest.<br />I must attribute that to the fact that TITAN is extremely in the language and familar.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-48319743635594822402012-12-02T20:13:01.798-05:002012-12-02T20:13:01.798-05:00It's not a real puzzle, ad always a tricky wor...It's not a real puzzle, ad always a tricky word play always remembering the old good REAL puzzles.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85125630224781905972012-12-02T19:35:23.922-05:002012-12-02T19:35:23.922-05:00@Tita - In a bit of syndication synchronicity, tod...@Tita - In a bit of syndication synchronicity, today's Sunday puzzle (which appeared a week ago for you) clued GANYMEDE as "Largest moon in the solar system" so that little bit of trivia would have cured your resistance to TITAN.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35862371663471810882012-12-02T11:47:42.698-05:002012-12-02T11:47:42.698-05:00I do the Sunday puzzle on Saturday, and the Saturd...I do the Sunday puzzle on Saturday, and the Saturday on Sunday; the magazine comes with the Sunday paper. I really enjoyed this puzzle. Perfect Saturday, as far as I am concerned, even though I never heard of feist. Dewar is easy for a chemist. Great puzzle! Thanks, Joon, hope you see the late comments.OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-26877864245973392662012-12-02T10:20:51.967-05:002012-12-02T10:20:51.967-05:00NW easy? Slayed me..
BANGALORE was easy, since it...NW easy? Slayed me..<br />BANGALORE was easy, since it is technology center.<br />OBAMACARE shoulda been so easy from the lead OB-, but it eluded me for a long time. PIANO misdirect got me.<br />Thought TITAN was the largest, so didn't throw it in till I becamse desperate, and wanted aomething, anything, in that CURSEd NW.<br /><br />Liked MADLIB (a favorite roadtrip game as a kid), and SOMETHINGFIERCE.<br /><br />@Rex - if you spend any time in seafaring towns, you will see WIDOWS walks everywhere.<br /><br />THanks for a classic Saturday struggle, Joon...<br /><br />Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-960014288007355432012-12-02T04:23:04.154-05:002012-12-02T04:23:04.154-05:00Exceeding my limit but wanted to report, I tried d...Exceeding my limit but wanted to report, I tried downloading the Sunday puz, got the http1 error, tried the suggestion I posted above: click to download, got error, click Back button, click-Back, click-Back, until all of a sudden it worked.Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-58486432373555115372012-12-02T01:13:38.747-05:002012-12-02T01:13:38.747-05:00Still can't access any of the puzzles online :...Still can't access any of the puzzles online :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86896444221426982082012-12-02T00:02:01.850-05:002012-12-02T00:02:01.850-05:00This 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 6:31, 6:46, 0.96, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Tue 8:20, 8:57, 0.93, 37%, Easy-Medium<br />Wed 10:16, 11:48, 0.87, 22%, Easy-Medium<br />Thu 10:36, 18:44, 0.57, 1%, Easy (2nd lowest median solve time of 177 Thursdays)<br />Fri 17:24, 24:18, 0.72, 8%, Easy<br />Sat 24:28, 28:59, 0.84, 17%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 3:44, 3:41, 1.01, 63%, Medium-Challenging<br />Tue 4:46, 4:41, 1.02, 59%, Medium<br />Wed 5:51, 5:57, 0.98, 48%, Medium<br />Thu 5:39, 9:22, 0.60, 1%, Easy (2nd lowest median solve time of 177 Thursdays)<br />Fri 9:03, 12:08, 0.75, 14%, Easy<br />sAT 14:21, 16:28, 0.87, 23%, Easy-Mediumsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54104386956554751962012-12-01T23:55:35.618-05:002012-12-01T23:55:35.618-05:00I wondered about 22A GST being clued as "Astr...I wondered about 22A GST being clued as "Astronomer's calculation, Abbr.". I thought the G referred to Greenwich and the ST was Standard Time. GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, is more commonly seen.<br /><br />Either way, it's not an astronomer's calculation. Zero degree latitude is decided by political/historical/yadayada factors, not astronomical ones. <br /><br />Rex cleared this up with Sidereal as the S in GST. Sidereal time is determined by astronomical calculations, no matter what the longitude.Anoa Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16185183023273883700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24136595786190170812012-12-01T22:36:28.873-05:002012-12-01T22:36:28.873-05:00One Feist I know is a mathematician/great puzzle s...One Feist I know is a mathematician/great puzzle solver I've met several times at the ACPT!machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-41602251974438793192012-12-01T22:22:16.511-05:002012-12-01T22:22:16.511-05:00@acme - But SAMMENDES is inferrable from the cross...@acme - But SAMMENDES is inferrable from the crosses, no? I had no idea who he was yet Joon's grid produced the solution with no problem so that's good thing, YESNO?Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63493788946937614652012-12-01T22:13:19.960-05:002012-12-01T22:13:19.960-05:00GST should be GMTGST should be GMTAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46242863574440862312012-12-01T22:10:28.489-05:002012-12-01T22:10:28.489-05:00I never heard of GST, presumably Greenwich Standar...I never heard of GST, presumably Greenwich Standard Time (22A).<br />It's more commonly known as GMT, Greenwich Mean (as in average) Time.<br />Astronomers now refer to it as UTC, Coordinated Universal Time.<br />Pilots (those who use Oscar and Papa) call it Zulu, as 2300Z.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com