tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post3420170410518515801..comments2024-03-29T03:22:09.826-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Heroine in Bizet's Pearl Fishers / WED 11-10-10 / L' d'amore Donizetti opera / Fountain of Youth site it's said / Manassas fighters / Jezebel's godRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger101125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-67402538551193602172010-12-16T14:03:44.505-05:002010-12-16T14:03:44.505-05:00Also, puzzle #1111
Ties nicely to the theme.Also, puzzle #1111<br /><br />Ties nicely to the theme.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-25570007785680228382010-12-15T23:08:00.637-05:002010-12-15T23:08:00.637-05:00Not having heard of Mr. Strunk before, I somewhat-...Not having heard of Mr. Strunk before, I somewhat-too-smartly assumed the theme answers could also include a TT RUNK (10D) so that became my personal Nattick along with TOLI (10A) which could easily be a specialized group of arias for all I know...Waxy in Montrealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04395751487137805245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-21755959473746493952010-12-15T19:57:16.401-05:002010-12-15T19:57:16.401-05:00And I never read "The Monkey's Paw"....And I never read "The Monkey's Paw".Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-39716042292185279312010-12-15T19:49:27.934-05:002010-12-15T19:49:27.934-05:00I was totally prepared to hate this puzzle due to ...I was totally prepared to hate this puzzle due to all the unfamiliar proper names when the theme came into view (thank you BBKING and LLBEAN. Managed to finish with only one error: LEIdA, (ala @mmorgan, without her good excuse). Oh, I just discovered I had GsATS for GMATS, so make that two errors. Still, had fun + learned something = good puzzle.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-50269892919472445252010-12-15T12:38:28.161-05:002010-12-15T12:38:28.161-05:00"It's challenge"? Obviously I've..."It's challenge"? Obviously I've been ignoring that S&W for way too long. Its Its its.Cary in Bouldernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-62604435382428403872010-12-15T12:36:24.780-05:002010-12-15T12:36:24.780-05:00I'm a syndicated puzzler so no one will actual...I'm a syndicated puzzler so no one will actually read this, but wanted to give a shout out to this blog anyway. Started doing xwords last month to hopefully stimulate my calcifying memory. Quickly got hooked on the NYT because of a) it's challenge -- I usually breeze thru M-W then hit the wall, and b) Rex and all the other erudite and humorous blogsters, especially aa michaels.<br /><br />I enjoyed this one, even though it pretty much filled itself in for me. My musical tastes lean way more to BB King than L'Elisir, so that was where I finished up, too.<br /><br />BTW, I've been an editor, writer and publisher. I have a copy of S&W still sitting unread on a shelf. Maybe I should reconsider.Cary in Bouldernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90768092703721303262010-11-12T00:43:41.170-05:002010-11-12T00:43:41.170-05:00Do you all want some cheese with those whines?Do you all want some cheese with those whines?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87206341804889447412010-11-11T11:57:58.083-05:002010-11-11T11:57:58.083-05:00@ulrich: sorry, that was just an example sentence;...@ulrich: sorry, that was just an example sentence; I have no actual experience with ricotta-hunting. But your response suggests it was an "unforced sentence."<br /><br />@Jax: Wow! Is Wikipedia kewl or what? Thanks for the research results<br /><br />@Clair: you're welcome.No BShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05729670790149748115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-86488818717753216762010-11-10T23:36:06.572-05:002010-11-10T23:36:06.572-05:00Ever ready to jump into a fight I know nothing abo...Ever ready to jump into a fight I know nothing about, having no skin in the game, I read @Michael Leddy's blog, read some of Pullam's writings, went to a bookstore and browsed through STRUNT & White and came to the following conclusion.<br /><br />Pullam posts here, regularly, as an anonymouse, performing such useful tasks as reading Rex's moderate, nuanced compaint about WWJACOBS, and then calls him an idiot for not knowing about "The Monkey's Paw". Hitting his stride, he then calls him an uncultured idiot (apparently, not knowing of The Monkey's Paw doesn't quite rise to the level of being uncultured) for not knowing off the top of his head the 20th most performed opera in America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-27376813301385737222010-11-10T22:42:15.661-05:002010-11-10T22:42:15.661-05:00Just left Hubster for his 2nd sleep study with CPA...Just left Hubster for his 2nd sleep study with CPAP, but I had to comment. This was chock full of good stuff. "With up so floating many bells down."<br /><br />I have a huge short story collection, so I loved this - MUNRO and JACOBS. Both stories are classic for the genre. I'm surprised at how few collections exist in even college libraries. Some day I'll need to find the right place to donate mine. <br />I asked Hubster for 2 of the sports clues; got LEBRON myself.<br /><br />STRUNK and White, I keep finding extra copies in my house. Never leave 2 together alone.<br /><br />@Anon, Jesser - miss that Sicilian boy, Croce.<br /><br />Took the 747 on my 1969 honeymoon to San Francisco; 2nd floor was a lounge. Those were the days.<br /><br />I did some antique TV Guide puzzles I found in my mom's house - talk about proper nouns! And of long forgotten shows.<br /><br />@Emba - thanx - I didn't have time to do that today. I'm relieved.<br /><br />So, anyone here have the elixir?Sfingihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903616949048940858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16818825858451454852010-11-10T20:56:46.724-05:002010-11-10T20:56:46.724-05:00Reading all these esoteric comments I am reminded ...Reading all these esoteric comments I am reminded of what me doctor said to me many, many years ago while giving me a physical for college. He said I would learn a little about a lot while going for my BA. After that if I went on for advanced degrees at each level I would learn a lot about little and eventually know an awful lot about very little. Not that I’m saying that’s true about anyone here....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37651615782672528152010-11-10T19:46:29.070-05:002010-11-10T19:46:29.070-05:00@Glitch, I too remember Geraldine Farrar from my d...@Glitch, I too remember Geraldine Farrar from my days in NYC. Even did a few of her puzzles, although I was too busy integrating in the complex plane at the time. Her <a href="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Farrar" rel="nofollow"> wiki entry</a> is brief, but interesting. For you inquiring minds, she was the first NYT crossword puzzle editor, from 1942 to 1968.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-14748262171293965012010-11-10T19:42:32.638-05:002010-11-10T19:42:32.638-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Rubehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04773241241484881566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-59357814594185882642010-11-10T18:51:16.946-05:002010-11-10T18:51:16.946-05:00@Martin
From a wierd old days, before blogs pers...@Martin <br /><br />From a wierd old days, before blogs perspective:<br /><br />I started regular NYT solving near the end of the Margaret Farrar era. She was in at the beginning, eventually becoming editor, and is [anecdotally] credited for coming up with the black squares. She also came up with many conventions that define the NYT style.<br /><br />Then Will Weng came along and started to change things. We hated his puzzles at first. After a while, however, we learned his slant, style, and "crosswordese", and all was well again.<br /><br />Then Maleska arrived. Another approach to recognize, a new set of "crosswordese" to learn --- but eventually all was well again.<br /><br />Now it's Will's turn. I'm amused at commenters with a couple of years under their belt calling for Will's dismissal (or worse) whenever they dislike an innovation. It will all work out in the long run. Just give the kid a chance. ;)<br /><br />Not quite an antique (most days),<br /><br />.../GlitchGlitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14940000404613329056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-28260915169207828032010-11-10T18:13:27.891-05:002010-11-10T18:13:27.891-05:00Barry Haldiman's Times puzzle page is a great ...<a href="http://home.everestkc.net/nytxword/index.htm" rel="nofollow">Barry Haldiman's Times puzzle page</a> is a great source for "antique" Times crosswords. The "Litzmas" offerings are an especially rich trove. He lovingly "litzes" (converts to Litsoft AcrossLite format) a dozen or so old puzzles from his archive every December. He has been collecting them from library microfiches for years.<br /><br />It's a great way to experience the weird old days. Start with Litzmas '99 (50 Years of Puzzles)if you think you can take it.Martinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75419401940661779552010-11-10T17:58:35.316-05:002010-11-10T17:58:35.316-05:00Seth G,
You counter Rex so well, and Andrea and d...Seth G,<br /><br />You counter Rex so well, and Andrea and dk, it makes me wish to call on Wade or PG to challenge the Rex writing.<br /><br />fffergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13654401257023301252010-11-10T17:52:02.135-05:002010-11-10T17:52:02.135-05:00Rex -- we are kindred spirits on this issue of gra...Rex -- we are kindred spirits on this issue of grammar, as well as on that of writing style. FFfergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56010931531727133312010-11-10T17:49:27.161-05:002010-11-10T17:49:27.161-05:00Never heard of the Monkey book. Vonnegut had a Mon...Never heard of the Monkey book. Vonnegut had a Monkey book and a Snuff Box book. I knew Encyclopedia Brown's first name, and I'm shocked, shocked that michaels was not impressed.<br /><br />Speaking of EB, count me a Strunk & White fan. I don't use it prescriptively, but I try to read it every year or so. That and Pólya's How To Solve It, which I think doesn't have any maligners. I took the GMAT, but Rex has never met me.<br /><br />For 15A, AMNIO...was not my first answer.SethGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13753036404140901368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-79188160501537398562010-11-10T17:37:35.080-05:002010-11-10T17:37:35.080-05:00@Michael Leddy,
Thank you so much for sharing you...@Michael Leddy,<br /><br />Thank you so much for sharing your article, which I had not seen. It's beautifully written, and it has made me want to re(rerere)read S&W, if only to encounter more passages like this one, which you cite:<br /><br />If you have received a letter inviting you to speak at the dedication of a new cat hospital, and you hate cats, your reply, declining the invitation, does not necessarily have to cover the full range of your emotions. You must make it clear that you will not attend, but you do not have to let fly at cats.<br /><br />Sentences like that make me wonder how anyone in his/her right mind could see S&W as "Peevish." Writing that effortlessly clear and funny deserves a better adjective. <br /> <br />I've been grumbling in my head all day about Pullum and how I *wish* his claim that S&W is the "<a href="http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1505" rel="nofollow">book that ate America's brain</a>" (which he wrote, I believe, while insulting Justice Sotomayor for her own S&Wophilia) were true—how much better, how much much much better, the student writing I see on a daily basis would be. Students and I would be free to discuss the finer points of grammar that S&W might have oversimplified or gotten wrong (e.g. the split infinitive, the use of "which" in a restrictive clause, etc.), instead of dealing with far more remedial issues (most of which S&W address directly, succinctly, wittily, gracefully).<br /><br />Again, thanks for sharing,<br />RPRex Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-69669182548612566222010-11-10T17:09:46.079-05:002010-11-10T17:09:46.079-05:00Fun puzzle. Like @efrex, I had AMAZON before LLBEA...Fun puzzle. Like @efrex, I had AMAZON before LLBEAN which allowed ALPACA to fit nicely into 42D (LLAMAS.) This, plus not knowing the mean cross streets of the day LEILA/ELISIR, caused major time lost in the SW. And like @Rube, I put BACON on my Whopper before ONION.<br /><br />@sfman re The Monkey's Paw: Title is familiar but I've never read it. PS thanks for the data gathering.shrub5https://www.blogger.com/profile/09466867716773759568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82315982866808033292010-11-10T16:56:55.238-05:002010-11-10T16:56:55.238-05:00To those complaining about the opera cross:
Go ba...To those complaining about the opera cross:<br /><br />Go back and do some Maleska era puzzles. I bought such a book (Simon & Schuster collection, pub. 2001 and edited by Maleska, $2.95 in the bargain bin at Books-a-Million in Shreveport LA). The proper name crosses are rampant and the crosses with obscure words even more so. These are more or less Sunday puzzles, or at least Sunday-sized, but I have a harder time with them than with current Saturdays for the reasons above. Also crosswordese of a decade or more ago seems different from the current. Like learning a strange dialect, e.g. Lichtensteiner Deutsch.retired_chemisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13181126754941899228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-87370896640072752452010-11-10T16:22:37.210-05:002010-11-10T16:22:37.210-05:00Our poet at 17 quickly made this puzzle come alive...Our poet at 17 quickly made this puzzle come alive. I would love to hear a BB KING version of some of the poems, just spoken or set to whatever music he chose.fergushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17056002311944010536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-75667001673613630602010-11-10T16:11:55.723-05:002010-11-10T16:11:55.723-05:00I'm not crazy about linking to my own stuff, b...I'm not crazy about linking to my own stuff, but I'd suggest that anyone who's read Pullum's <i>Chronicle</i> piece read this post: <a href="http://mleddy.blogspot.com/2009/04/pullum-on-strunk-and-white.html" rel="nofollow">Pullum on Strunk and White</a>. There are reasonable criticisms to make of <i>The Elements of Style</i> (I've made many, elsewhere). Pullum though consistently distorts what the book says (as in his claim that Strunk and White want people to write without adjectives and adverbs, at all).Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18826617233761774912010-11-10T15:58:54.264-05:002010-11-10T15:58:54.264-05:00to no B.S.
Thank you, you made my day.to no B.S.<br />Thank you, you made my day.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03569388808867351871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-61774674746044006192010-11-10T15:42:58.060-05:002010-11-10T15:42:58.060-05:00I like this one, especially because it included my...I like this one, especially because it included my favorite show, NCIS. <br /><br />Mike and Mike every morning, and NCIS reruns every evening. <br /><br />@ChefWen: my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.archaeoprofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956231727789223463noreply@blogger.com