tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3319355211366403582..comments2024-03-28T04:40:27.172-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Investments since 1975 / FRI 2-28-14 / Philatelic goals / Suffix with Edward / Singer who's a Backstreet Boy's brother / Salk Institute architect Louis / Shakespeare sonnet mentioning Philomel's mournful hymns / Modern-day locale of ancient Nineveh / City with major avenues named Cincinnati ColumbusRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35025855903952817502014-04-05T16:56:14.356-04:002014-04-05T16:56:14.356-04:00What @Acme said-each time. Loved this puzzleWhat @Acme said-each time. Loved this puzzleShaxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31107110219288973942014-04-04T18:27:55.177-04:002014-04-04T18:27:55.177-04:00I thought this was a perfect Friday puz - I like m...I thought this was a perfect Friday puz - I like my puzzles (among other things) stacked, with lots of HIGHNOTES! Thank you @MAS (for you comment as well as the puzzle). I needed a couple of lucky guesses to finish and for once, against all odds, I guessed right both times (although I still regret having to give up on AARONfARTER).<br /><br />Fives over twos won't win anything today.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64479815218067888912014-04-04T16:58:42.938-04:002014-04-04T16:58:42.938-04:00Labored over this one. Unknown singer, unknown R&a...Labored over this one. Unknown singer, unknown R&B group, unknown Wall Street thing, and is IVANA really a socialite? Wanted Nancy Astor or some such. So much to ferret out, and so much to accept that what I got was right. In the end, I managed all except the down under guys, (wanted car mechanics or some such) and the Wall Street thing, which, of course, Naticked at AT? And shouldn't street view be STOREFRONTS?<br /><br />My two pair folds to,@Spacecraft<br />DMGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46152652844055688402014-04-04T13:04:58.964-04:002014-04-04T13:04:58.964-04:00I too wondered if this was really Friday when the ...I too wondered if this was really Friday when the NW popped in so readily; ditto the NE. The middle was a bit more recalcitrant, until I realized that "They play" can mean the same thing as "They are played," which is the more familiar. With NATIONALANTHEMS as a start, I managed to work it all out, and "got 'er done," with apologies to Larry.<br /><br />ROCKIES, OK, but is just one of them really a "ROCKIE?" I guess that's legit; if I love rock'n'roll, could you call me a ROCKIE? But Sly is frowning.<br /><br />TORAH to TORCH...I'm seeing a word ladder here. Lessee, PORCH PARCH MARCH MARSH HARSH...<br /><br />Strangely, I had less trouble than I should have on a couple of these. "Finder's query" had me putting in WHATISTHIS(?) after only a few letters. Same thing with TEXASSIZE, even though I didn't bother to count the down squares at 50 and had ZERO inked in before even noticing that extra space. ZILCH became my only w/o, just a bit of carelessness.<br /><br />HADATINEAR was a nice aha! moment, once I got out of baseball and into music. XXX was a lot of fun. The visual shows me a jug of moonshine, though, not a movie rating. Don't know why FLAUTIST was a problem for some; it's just an artsy variant of FLUTIST, also perfectly acceptable. It's like pronouncing "aunt" as ONT. Stick out that pinky, now!<br /><br />Full house, ATSIXes.spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13383068778380707692014-03-02T20:08:54.066-05:002014-03-02T20:08:54.066-05:00@M&A - Just got home, first thing I did was Ki...@M&A - Just got home, first thing I did was Kiddie Pool Krossword #103.<br /><br />Ouch! I may have guessed at 40% of the answers. Had to use a lot of "Reveal current word." But I still love those little gems.Bob Kerfufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02615811802419025933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19255874389648098652014-03-01T18:22:33.176-05:002014-03-01T18:22:33.176-05:00Also had DOT for JOT and ODAYs for OJAYS. And bec...Also had DOT for JOT and ODAYs for OJAYS. And because I had PERCH instead of TORCH for "Spelunker's aid", I had a P for a T and didn't get TEXAS SIZE.Nancynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-40055904294992415802014-03-01T14:03:15.519-05:002014-03-01T14:03:15.519-05:00Sorry. My brain must have been fried, In my post, ...Sorry. My brain must have been fried, In my post, whenever I wrote "perfect fifth" I meant tritone, the devil's interval. Thanks for noting the correction.pmdmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-55522866357340161082014-03-01T13:37:20.851-05:002014-03-01T13:37:20.851-05:00Are there any cups of tea that belong to Rex Parke...Are there any cups of tea that belong to Rex Parker?<br /><br />- Joe DiPietroAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37437669594870604472014-03-01T07:27:54.233-05:002014-03-01T07:27:54.233-05:00Really enjoyed this puzzle. Top 2/3s played medium...Really enjoyed this puzzle. Top 2/3s played medium for me. Got stuck in the SW for a while. Thought the cluing was great. Totally disagree with Rex. Oldbizmarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-34344610616868469322014-03-01T01:17:46.076-05:002014-03-01T01:17:46.076-05:00This 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 6:19, 6:18, 1.00, 52%, Medium<br />Tue 6:27, 8:16, 0.78, 1%, Easy (3rd lowest ratio of 220 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 8:10, 10:14, 0.80, 7%, Easy<br />Thu 15:06, 18:09, 0.83, 20%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 25:43, 21:04, 1.22, 87%, Challenging<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:19, 4:00, 1.08, 82%, Challenging<br />Tue 4:06, 5:13, 0.79, 0%, Easy (Lowest ratio of 220 Tuesdays)<br />Wed 5:07, 6:17, 0.81, 6%, Easy (13th lowest ratio of 217 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 8:56, 10:24, 0.86, 22%, Easy-Medium<br />Fri 15:32, 12:11, 1.27, 86%, Challengingsanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50330895301782575442014-03-01T00:29:16.031-05:002014-03-01T00:29:16.031-05:00Finished with one ridiculous mistake: AARON VARTER...Finished with one ridiculous mistake: AARON VARTER. Because, I reasoned, how could anyone write over 100 sonnets??<br /><br />Very proud of that.KDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-10638331153058272392014-03-01T00:14:09.967-05:002014-03-01T00:14:09.967-05:00"i wish i could've been on some game show..."i wish i could've been on some game show where, after seeing the constructor's name, i could've put all my money on "a puzzle that rex will insult unfairly" i'd be so rich."<br /><br />Yeah. In fact, Rex outright (and proudly!) admitted to prejudging the puzzle in his writeup, so I took his opinion even less seriously than usual. What really saddens me, though, is that MAS actually <b>does</b> care what Rex thinks. :( That's got to be a drain on a constructor's soul.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-49828951010396373412014-02-28T23:17:23.334-05:002014-02-28T23:17:23.334-05:00For some reason I did this in pen in the paper thi...For some reason I did this in pen in the paper this evening, rather than on my iPad last night. I enjoyed this puzzle, MAS. Was afraid I would find it too easy when Iraq-Irish went right in, but then the fun began. Was a little disappointed by traditional IRA poking it's head up again so soon. ( Couldn't it have been clued with "not the Provisionals" ?) I suppose the idea of something traditional having been introduced in 1975 is amusing. Have been using Macs since 90, so NT, and other Windows titles are as obscure as Aaron Carter and the Ojays, but somehow these all fell into my non-TexasSize lap. Never saw the Lion King, so Nala had to come from crosses, but easily did. Of course National anthems play at the Olympics, over loudspeakers. Now studying piano, so glad to learn about Liszt. Despite lack of electronic verification, got it right, always a happy feeling.I skip M-Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73221044474691487212014-02-28T22:59:10.252-05:002014-02-28T22:59:10.252-05:00i wish i could've been on some game show where...i wish i could've been on some game show where, after seeing the constructor's name, i could've put all my money on "a puzzle that rex will insult unfairly" i'd be so rich.<br /><br />the only thing that surprised me about this one is that i finished it and then found challenging ratings here. ive only finished about 5 fridays ever and almost all of those were PBs.<br /><br />there wasnt much garbage, contrary to the opinion of some, and the cluing was very enjoyable and made up for alot of the marginal stuff like xxx and ods. the crossworld would be a worse place indeed if we didnt have MAS to kick around anymore.<br /><br /><br /> Consistentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-24541827949964512022014-02-28T21:55:19.219-05:002014-02-28T21:55:19.219-05:00NTS as a plural is junk. Yes, Windows NT is a thin...NTS as a plural is junk. Yes, Windows NT is a thing. But NTs is not how you refer to multiple NT boxes--just like how we don't say "95s", "XPs", or "7s".<br /><br />Overall, the stuff that annoyed me in the puzzle won out over the stuff I liked. It seems like the quad stack was what was supposed to do the heavy lifting in this puzzle, and the 15s in it were too flimsy to carry that weight. And as with all pangrams, I didn't notice this was one until I came here.<br /><br />Some day I will click with a MAS puzzle, but that day is not today. Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336260911834780345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-60361195331395178822014-02-28T21:31:25.587-05:002014-02-28T21:31:25.587-05:00Relatively easy for me for a Friday until I hit th...Relatively easy for me for a Friday until I hit the mid-south/Texas area. Had to google to find Aaron Carter and get a toehold there. Texas-size was eluding me, even though I was thinking of it as the Texas area of the puzzle. Doh! <br /><br />Put me down as one who likes quad stacks. Enjoyed doing it and I listened to the musical sound of rain (finally!) falling here in Southern California. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04983081176623722693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5107172796053362212014-02-28T21:20:42.275-05:002014-02-28T21:20:42.275-05:00Took me a while while watching food network but I ...Took me a while while watching food network but I got it all.....and I did like this puzzle. The first time thru I only got Rockies, but persevered and eventually the words came easily. I like quad stacks! <br /><br />Of course my daughter's telling me Aaron Carter went a long way.adicecreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15912814651356855583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90058379192139553882014-02-28T21:09:45.433-05:002014-02-28T21:09:45.433-05:00@Thanks, Jae 3:09pm!
@Oisk
check out that comment...@Thanks, Jae 3:09pm!<br />@Oisk <br />check out that comment.<br />Once again, I'll say if you suspected there was a pangram and didn't know O?AYS/?OT, J would be the only letter missing from the grid, et voila!<br /><br />@gringa 5:04pm<br />Very moving.<br />Heartfelt connections triggered by puzzles goes a long way to mitigate the, um, nonheartfelt observations here.acmenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18466602990484946942014-02-28T21:07:52.796-05:002014-02-28T21:07:52.796-05:00I liked the puzzle and found it of about average d...I liked the puzzle and found it of about average difficulty for a Friday. DNF -- couldn't remember NTS or ATP (kept trying ACP for some reason) and didn't see anti-riot. Never heard of Aaron Carter, but got it from crosses (and guessing Carter).<br /><br />Didn't seem particularly database-like to me and I am glad that MAS defended himself.<br />michaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37183217936574038182014-02-28T20:22:10.139-05:002014-02-28T20:22:10.139-05:00Just finished! I love when i can solve a Friday no...Just finished! I love when i can solve a Friday no matter how long it takes! Thanks MAS!Elle54noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69195468074694790012014-02-28T20:11:58.371-05:002014-02-28T20:11:58.371-05:00@Dolgoruky: The word "flautist" is stil...@Dolgoruky: The word "flautist" is still commonly used in the orchestral and studio musician world and in academia.<br />Garthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12113318346829815128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-76219954939420641672014-02-28T20:10:02.798-05:002014-02-28T20:10:02.798-05:00Thx much to MAS for the puzz and to him and/or Wil...Thx much to MAS for the puzz and to him and/or Will for the cluing...enjoyed falling for the misdirections on "People down under" and "Couldn't hit pitches"...had MAORIS before CAVERS and had HAD A BAD EYE before correcting my vision and getting a tin ear instead...MetaRexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01697113550216241303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-70778082693333769072014-02-28T19:23:04.749-05:002014-02-28T19:23:04.749-05:00So…I have a technical DNF, since the "Backsta...So…I have a technical DNF, since the "Backstabbers " were the Ojays, not the Odays, not that I could possibly have known this, and DOT is just as good as JOT for "minim" . No, I have never heard of "Backstabbers," and am quite sure I wouldn't recognize it; by 1972 I was able to avoid rock completely. It does peeve me to hit a Natick far away from the quad stack, after getting everything else…<br /><br />I could say that my rage was dramatic<br />And I stomped in a matter emphatic<br />When my wandering gaze<br />Saw the answer "OJAYS,"<br />And I knew I'd succumbed to a Natick! <br /><br />(Don't mean to start these up again, my last one, I promise. It just fit my mood)OISKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16808675378318214461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59919597317194553772014-02-28T17:52:49.714-05:002014-02-28T17:52:49.714-05:00And then there was the Texan who died. He was so b...And then there was the Texan who died. He was so big they couldn't find a coffin large enough to bury him in, so they gave him an enema and buried him in a shoebox.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44700487008877446362014-02-28T17:26:33.001-05:002014-02-28T17:26:33.001-05:00NOBODY who keeps up with the musical world says &q...NOBODY who keeps up with the musical world says "flautist" anymore!Dolgorukynoreply@blogger.com