tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3368391583174812346..comments2024-03-29T07:34:38.633-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Landlocked land along the Silk Road / SAT 8-1-20 / Worshiper of goddess Mama Quilla mother moon / Natural feature near Queensland / Former name of subsaharan Africa's largest country / Like the last complete symphony of Gustav Mahler Rex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger104125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-63101976989452259702020-09-05T18:28:42.239-04:002020-09-05T18:28:42.239-04:00And yer welcome, @Ron! I wondered why you didn...And yer welcome, @Ron! I wondered why you didn't comment when I said you were a "card" on the 27th. ;-)<br /><br />Diana, LIW Diana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-29754014243442928472020-09-05T18:26:05.267-04:002020-09-05T18:26:05.267-04:00Didn't know the Coach but Mr. W did - once I g...Didn't know the Coach but Mr. W did - once I got the spelling, RUMPLESTILLSKIN, the rest fell into place. <br /><br />Gonna go drink some Zevia - and I mean that.<br /><br />Lady DiDiana, LIWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61935175106210623332020-09-05T15:18:29.394-04:002020-09-05T15:18:29.394-04:00Lots of good stuff here. Managed to piece together...Lots of good stuff here. Managed to piece together the correct spellings of Coach K and and the "K-stan" country with help from the stacked acrosses in the NW and SE corners, but resorted to look-ups elsewhere in this clever and challenging Saturday puzzle.<br /><br />leftcoasternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31730982426110431522020-09-05T13:26:15.257-04:002020-09-05T13:26:15.257-04:00I liked this one. It would have been nice to see K...I liked this one. It would have been nice to see Krazy Kat join the K-lettered PPP Parade.thefogmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870509029973778266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-2772411073735064432020-09-05T12:55:22.358-04:002020-09-05T12:55:22.358-04:00I've seen Coach K's name a thousand times ...I've seen Coach K's name a thousand times but I'd probably mis-spell it again tomorrow.<br /><br />What seems really amazing is that the snail mail has gotten snailier. Trump issues? A CARD in an envelope by first class mail postmarked August 25 in Spokane arrived here yesterday. 11 days for a first class letter! You can't convince me that's not on purpose. It used to be a coupla days. Anyway, thanks @D,LIW, IMHONORED and getting snail mail is fun.<br /><br />Back to the puz - Before TOGA, I had a Roman nOse as hard to sculpt which set me up for eonS before AGES. My answer to 'Tries' was SueS before SIPS came along, so that whole middlish area was last to fall into place.<br /><br />Mrs. Russel Wilson, known as CIARA, for yeah baby today.<br /><br />NOW this was a good puz.rondonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-46231478792046514002020-09-05T12:22:03.962-04:002020-09-05T12:22:03.962-04:00TAPE DELAY
Coach KRZYZEWSKI said, " IRESIGN ...TAPE DELAY<br /><br />Coach KRZYZEWSKI said, " IRESIGN in advance,<br />I'MHONORED FUR the NINTH time in a ROW, it seems,<br />and IDIDN'T yet CATCHTHAT one last CHANCE,<br />'SCUSEME, NOW I'll take a HOTSHOWER with my TEAM."<br /><br />--- RICK HAYDNBurma Shavenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36073103634295114992020-09-05T11:04:57.491-04:002020-09-05T11:04:57.491-04:00Well well, a not-really-themeless Saturday! First ...Well well, a not-really-themeless Saturday! First and last: knowable but hardly spellable long K-names. They tried to make it hard with a really obscure clue for the PLAYWIYHINAPLAY instead of "A Midsummer Night's Dream, or, of course, "Hamlet." After all, it IS Saturday.<br /><br />One blotch: had ESTATEruLE before the SALE, but I knew that it was ADNAUSEAM instead of -UM. Once again, Joan BAEZ wins DOD, the more remarkable for having been so far along during the concert; I did not know that.<br /><br />Lively, entertaining fare, difficult but eminently doable: say, medium. Nothing to get hung about. Eagle.<br /><br />P.S. Congrats to the Golden Knights. who somehow prevailed against one of the most awesome goalies I've ever seen, Thatcher Demko. His name certainly deserves to be seen here. Wish we had him.spacecrafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125304293611865503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36748564781009058332020-09-03T07:36:09.882-04:002020-09-03T07:36:09.882-04:00Chose to try to this in pen. The good is I solved ...Chose to try to this in pen. The good is I solved it without hints. The bad is that three questions were wrong. I had ESTATEDUES instead of ESTATESALES and SEAROLL instead of EELROLL. And FEED instead of FLEA. Hence DEA in ALE. Just to finish a Saturday in pen is a accomplishment enough. <br /><br />Mark RicardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31538030818585452342020-08-03T00:56:35.504-04:002020-08-03T00:56:35.504-04:00Hi! I enjoyed this puzzle, so I guess I'm who ...Hi! I enjoyed this puzzle, so I guess I'm who it's "for." I thought it was cute and delightful<br /><br />Sometimes I wonder why Rex does crossword puzzles, as he seems to find them all endlessly tedious. Maybe take up knitting?Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07900941940851961345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-44459821832811560722020-08-01T21:07:44.726-04:002020-08-01T21:07:44.726-04:00I loved this puzzle! Great fill leading to more gr...I loved this puzzle! Great fill leading to more great fill. Best Saturday for a long time. Thanks Adam and Paolo!Sianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12777785395698181465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64017955090170118272020-08-01T20:05:54.322-04:002020-08-01T20:05:54.322-04:00Agatha Christie wrote a radio play called "Th...Agatha Christie wrote a radio play called "Three Blind Mice", broadcast on the BBC during World War II. In 1952 the play appeared in the West End as "The Mousetrap", a title which Christie in her autobiography said her young grandson invented. StellaBluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08071919541813999063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-31133386557981144982020-08-01T19:59:48.002-04:002020-08-01T19:59:48.002-04:00A play called The Mousetrap, adapted by Hamlet fro...A play called The Mousetrap, adapted by Hamlet from a play called The Murder of Gonzago, is performed in Act III, scene II. "The story is extant, and written in choice Italian..."StellaBluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08071919541813999063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45880884766812039712020-08-01T19:56:14.905-04:002020-08-01T19:56:14.905-04:00@Bill L 4:39 PM
I was going to save the Stumper f...@Bill L 4:39 PM<br /><br />I was going to save the Stumper for tomorrow as I frequently do, but after seeing your comment I had to give it a go today. I did it in one sitting in 47 minutes, which for me is smoking it. I agree that it was one of the easier ones I've encountered. I got QB today also, but I think everybody else did too. Yesterday - NO NO NO. It was a bear.GaryMacnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62236335116779802062020-08-01T19:42:54.693-04:002020-08-01T19:42:54.693-04:00The play's the thing...The play's the thing...StellaBluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08071919541813999063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54095455254315798842020-08-01T19:14:38.599-04:002020-08-01T19:14:38.599-04:00I’m very pleased to join the QB ranks today, it ma...I’m very pleased to join the QB ranks today, it makes me feel a bit better about my DNF (I hate when that happens). jaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03385568014046336373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-64655471259177589772020-08-01T18:12:07.122-04:002020-08-01T18:12:07.122-04:00
*****SB ALERT*****
@Roo Monster, @TTrimble @Ba...<br /><br /><br />*****SB ALERT*****<br /><br />@Roo Monster, @TTrimble @Barbara S @Bill L and whoever else made QB today- Congrats and party hats!<br /><br />Also for me, QB. First chance I had to finish off the last couple, only took a minute or two. Didn’t feel all that hard today. I guess it wasn’t since you all got there earlier. I wonder what he’ll do to us tomorrow...Pamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05832495838735512868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-73301255298297617202020-08-01T17:42:19.462-04:002020-08-01T17:42:19.462-04:00@Jeff:
agree. one says, 'mink stole' not...@Jeff:<br /><br />agree. one says, 'mink stole' not 'stole mink'. even so, the possibilities aren't endless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-38189008740221829732020-08-01T17:20:00.057-04:002020-08-01T17:20:00.057-04:00Liked this puzzle a lot. Really wanted FLAKES for ...Liked this puzzle a lot. Really wanted FLAKES for "eccentrics, in slang" but NEATASAPIN finally ruled that out. And that made me recall that Coach K's name only *sounds* like it has an F in it. <br /><br />Two gripes: first, no modern corporation has a TECH department; IT (information technology) sure, but no one calls it "tech". Second, have a hard time with the FUR clue: yes, I know that a stole *is* a fur but "Stole something?" is just outright misdirection, not a pun or clever wink. Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04796996131800384020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-19127618565766358832020-08-01T17:13:44.627-04:002020-08-01T17:13:44.627-04:00Clue on 45A - cringe!Clue on 45A - cringe!Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00415297328240717979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-80357180688969929802020-08-01T17:08:13.036-04:002020-08-01T17:08:13.036-04:00@ Barbara S. - I could listen to memories like tha...@ Barbara S. - I could listen to memories like that all day. Such a different time we are living in now. ChuckDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07378630990725599354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16045203260256570222020-08-01T16:49:38.745-04:002020-08-01T16:49:38.745-04:00@bauskern 2:22 - I get why you feel that way, but ...@bauskern 2:22 - I get why you feel that way, but that’s not Rex. <i>I like to time myself on occasion, especially on early-week puzzles. I'm always in a kind of low-level training for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (again, above link). I don't care if you are faster / slower than I am, or if you don't care about timing at all. More power to you. Everyone does the puzzle differently. There are solvers of all different speeds who read this site. There's no reason for anyone to feel defensive / self-conscious.</i> From the FAQs. Also from the FAQs: <i>I rate puzzles according to RELATIVE difficulty: that is, I rate their difficulty relative to the typical difficulty for That Day Of The Week. This baffles people so much that I may stop doing it.</i> In other words, Rex provides a rating on relative difficulty of each puzzle and his solving time is the benchmark. He’s faster than most of us, but isn’t actually in the upper echelon of solving speed. That’s it. No bragging, just saying.<br /><br />@jberg - Well, I was trying to make people laugh, or at least crack a wry smile, so “risible” isn’t completely off. <br /><br />@anon1:48 - That the rules aren’t the ones you and I were taught doesn’t mean there aren’t any rules. I pretty much agree that Rap Artists stage names are often unfair, but for the same reason Mauna Loa/Kea or Ionesco/Ionescu is unfair. “Just nonsense” is farther than I would go. Also, KRZYZEWSKI isn’t a transliteration, it’s the Polish spelling of something that we might spell as Shihzhefskee (that’s one way Wikipedia shows the pronunciation). We don’t normally transliterate from languages using the Latin alphabet, even when the sounds don’t line up very well. In that regard KRZYZEWSKI is <b>more</b> nonsensical than <a href="https://youtu.be/ytYiviePo4c" rel="nofollow">Rappermatical 5</a> (and wow, “Connecticut Hip Hop” - Who knew?).Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-7075264684947415952020-08-01T16:39:03.998-04:002020-08-01T16:39:03.998-04:00Today has been a good day. Once the K-words were u...Today has been a good day. Once the K-words were untangled this went pretty smoothly. Liked it. <br /><br />I also smoked the SB and Saturday Stumper so I’m feeling smart for once. Today’s Stumper may be the easiest I’ve encountered.<br /><br />****SB Alert****<br /><br />Agree with @TTrimble that it was odd that “edema” wasn’t included yesterday. “Edam” too, but maybe because it’s a town as well as a cheese?<br /><br />I was lucky to know LAMELLA. I design water treatment plants and lamella plate clarifiers are a common treatment process prior to filtration.<br /><br />And when it comes to the SB I will tack an “e” onto the end of almost any word ending in “a” and see if sticks.<br />Bill L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08886581691063755810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21170405314520735412020-08-01T16:27:12.347-04:002020-08-01T16:27:12.347-04:00Krzyzewski was a bizarre entry because it was a Mo...Krzyzewski was a bizarre entry because it was a Monday level clue with the only question being can you spell it?<br /><br />Kyrgyzstan on the other hand had a real clue plus the spelling issue. I figured out this answer and inferred the spelling.<br /><br />Luckily for me I'm a college basketball nut and knew the spelling of Krzyzewski. Always great to have a long 1a off the bat. Solverinserbiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698315948740947159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-83929133461175683032020-08-01T15:08:35.010-04:002020-08-01T15:08:35.010-04:00I saw Joan Baez perform when she was (I guess, 5 m...I saw Joan Baez perform when she was (I guess, 5 months) pregnant, not at Woodstock. She played an outdoor concert in Canada in July 1969 at a ski hill near the city I was living in. It was well-attended -- there were people everywhere sitting on blankets on the grass (no mud) -- a miniature-scale dress rehearsal for what was to come. I remember she talked a lot about her husband, David Harris, being hauled off to jail for draft resistance and how traumatic that was for all concerned -- it had just happened, maybe a week or so before the concert. I remember that when singing, she never closed her eyes and emoted as many singers do. I don't criticise other singers for doing that -- the music takes one in various ways -- but Joan faced her audience fully present and clear-eyed at all times. And I remember she sang <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixy7M7oDwQc" rel="nofollow">this</a> with much joy.<br />Barbara S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-53440534222604459962020-08-01T15:01:47.073-04:002020-08-01T15:01:47.073-04:00one thing about the K man: for years and years he...one thing about the K man: for years and years he dissed all those other coaches who 'hired' one-and-doners by the six-pack, until he figured out that was the only way to win. he brought in his own six-packs. dissing went the way of high-button shoes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com